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A  Brief  Narrative  of  the  Ravages  of  the 

British  and  Hessians  at  Princeton 

1776-1777 


-PRINCETON,    N.    J. 

THE   UNIVERSITY   LIBRARY 

1906 


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THE  PRINCETON  HISTORICAL 
ASSOCIATION 

EXTRA    PUBLICATIONS 
NUMBER    I 


BRIEF  NARRATIVE 

OF   THE 

Ravages  of  the  British  and  Hessians 

AT  PRINCETON  IN  1776-77 


A  CONTEMPORARY  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  BATTLES 
OF  TRENTON  AND  PRINCETON 


VARNUM    LANSING   COLLINS 

Reference  Librarian  of  Princeton  University 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

THE   UNIVERSITY    LIBRARY 

1906 


Copyright,  1906,  by 
THE  PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY  LIBRAE 


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CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION vii-x 

A  BRIEF   NARRATIVE 1-51 

INDEX 53 


'89283 


INTRODUCTION 


'T^HE  manuscript  which  is  here  printed  for  the  first  time 
**•  was  purchased  in  1901  by  the  Library  of  Princeton  Uni 
versity  at  the  sale  of  the  late  General  William  Scudder  Stryker's 
collection.  It  had  been  given  to  General  Stryker  by  Gover 
nor  Charles  S.  Olden  of  New  Jersey  who  believed  it  to  have 
been  handed  down  in  his  family  from  the  day  of  its  composi 
tion  a  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago.  It  consists  of  twenty- 
four  folio  numbered  pages,  the  final  paragraph  of  which  was 
written  on  April  18,  1777.  The  manuscript  is  brown  with  age 
and  has  suffered  severely  from  exposure  and  careless  handling. 
It  has  been  folded  in  the  middle  and  the  outer  leaves  have 
crumbled  along  the  fold,  while  the  upper  right-hand  quarters 
of  the  first  and  last  leaves  are  wanting  altogether,  causing 
gaps  in  the  first  two  and  last  two  pages.  The  handwriting 
is  well  formed  and  regular,  and  is  evidently  that  of  an  old 
man.  The  document  is  unsigned. 

General  Stryker,  who  in  his  History  of  the  Battles  of 
Trenton  and  Princeton  was  the  first  to  note  in  print  the  exist 
ence  of  the  manuscript,  followed  the  Olden  family  tradition 
by  referring  to  it  as  the  "  diary  of  Thomas  Olden  of  Princeton." 
Mr.  Olden  lived  in  the  little  frame  house  which  is  locally  well 
known  as  the  lodge  of  "Drumthwacket, "  the  residence  to 
day  of  M.  Taylor  Pyne,  Esq.,  and  formerly  of  Governor 
Olden. 

It  is  not  pleasant  to  destroy  family  tradition ;  but  the  fact 
is  that  the  first  page  of  the  Narrative — it  is  not  a  diary — 


vili  INTRODUCTION 

contains  the  proof  that  Thomas  Olden  did  not  write  it.  For 
there  the  author  plainly  states  that  in  the  winter  of  1776-77 
he  was  in  his  eighty-fifth  year;  and  according  to  indisputable 
family  records  Thomas  Olden  was  born  in  1735,  and  therefore 
could  not  have  been  more  than  forty-one  or  forty-two  at  the 
time  in  question.  This  of  itself  is  sufficient  to  put  him  out 
of  court  as  the  author.  But  a  second  bit  of  internal  evidence 
also  discredits  the  traditional  view.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
although  a  large  part  of  the  Narrative  is  devoted  to  an  ac 
count  of  the  damage  done  to  property  in  and  around  Prince 
ton,  the  author  does  not  mention  any  losses  he  himself  sus 
tained.  Now  Thomas  Olden  did  suffer  at  the  hands  of  the 
British  and  Hessians  and  his  claim  is  duly  filed  in  the  Middle 
sex  County  Book  of  Damages  preserved  in  the  State  Library 
at  Trenton,  N.  J.  If  he  were  the  author  of  the  Narrative  his 
omission  to  mention  his  own  losses  would  be  inexplicable. 

The  impossibility  of  admitting  Mr.  Olden's  authorship  is 
the  more  regrettable  to  me  because  every  effort  to  supply  his 
place  has  proved  unavailing.  The  author's  allusions  to  him 
self  are  so  vague  that  no  clue  has  been  found  satisfactory,  and 
I  fear  that  until  some  well  authenticated  manuscript  turns 
up  in  the  handwriting  of  the  present  document  the  latter's 
authorship  must  remain  a  mystery. 

The  Narrative  throws  no  specially  new  light  on  the  bat 
tles  of  Trenton  and  Princeton.  Its  author  was  not  present 
at  the  former  and  witnessed  but  the  beginning  of  the  latter. 
His  account  of  the  Trenton  affair  is  made  up  from  second 
hand  information.  He  watched  the  Princeton  fight  from 
his  own  door  until  the  ubiquitous  shot  compelled  him  to  take 
refuge  in  his  cellar.  It  may  be  noted  that  he  was  not  living 
in  the  same  house  when  he  wrote  his  story.  (Cf.  pp.  4,  15,  17 
and  21  of  his  MS.)  The  Narrative  is  valuable  chiefly  as  a 


INTRODUCTION  IX 

firsthand  account  of  the  conditions  prevailing  in  Princeton 
and  its  vicinity  during  the  ' '  twenty-six  days  tyranny 
of  British  and  Hessian  occupation;  and  its  comments  on  the 
causes  leading  to  the  Revolution  and  on  the  methods  adopted 
by  Great  Britain  for  suppressing  it  represent  very  accurately 
the  views  entertained  by  the  majority  of  the  intelligent 
agricultural  population  of  New  Jersey.  The  author  was  a 
man  of  very  fair  education  and  probably  was  a  farmer;  he 
knew  his  Bible  well;  he  read  the  newspapers  and  at  least 
some  of  the  pamphlet  literature  of  the  day ;  and  his  knowledge 
of  American  colonial  history  was  accurate.  He  was  a  man 
of  high  ideals,  honest  thinking,  grim  humor  and  rugged 
speech;  and  he  had  many  friends.  His  style  shows  the  faults 
of  that  of  any  old  man  whose  profession  has  not  been  the 
scribe's;  his  thoughts  often  run  away  with  his  pen.  But 
after  all  he  waxes  rhetorical  only  once  or  twice  and  in  the 
main  his  story  is  told  simply  and  in  homely  language.  That 
it  is  a  severe  arraignment  of  the  conduct  of  the  British  and 
their  mercenaries  is  not  surprising,  but  considering  how 
warmly  its  author  felt  its  tone  is  remarkably  calm.  He  has 
made  no  effort  at  fine  writing  but  scattered  through  his  pages 
are  unconscious  touches  of  striking  power.  For  instance,  his 
very  casual  allusion  to  the  scene  at  his  cottage  after  the  bat 
tle  is  one  that  sticks  in  the  mind — the  house  filled  and  sur 
rounded  by  American  soldiers,  some  laughing  outright, 
others  in  their  weariness  only  smiling,  all  of  them  hungry  and 
thirsty,  Washington  himself  "on  horseback  at  the  door," 

" and  not  a  man  among  them  but  showed  Joy  in  his 

countenance. ' '     No    wonder    the    old    blood    tingled    in    his 
veins. 

The  manuscript  is  printed  as  written,  spelling  and  punc 
tuation — or  rather  the  lack  of  it — being  carefully  observed. 


X  INTRODUCTION 

I  have  endeavored  to  be  as  conservative  as  possible  in  my 
attempted  restorations  of  the  missing  portions,  and  all  words 
or  parts  of  words  supplied  are  italicized.  Where  I  have 
failed  to  fill  gaps  the  approximate  number  of  lines  or  parts 
of  lines  unfilled  is  stated.  The  pagination  of  the  original 
has  been  preserved  in  brackets  throughout  the  text. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Walter  Hart  Olden  of  Princeton  and 
to  Dr.  Charles  C.  Abbott  of  Trenton  for  many  interesting 
suggestions  and  much  real  help  in  my  unsuccessful  effort  to 
track  down  the  authorship  of  the  Narrative.  Their  pains 
deserved  a  better  result.  My  notes  are  based  chiefly  on  W. 
S.  Stryker's  History  of  the  Battles  of  Trenton  and  Princeton 
(Boston  1898),  John  F.  Hageman's  History  of  Princeton 
(Philadelphia  1879)  and  on  the  New  Jersey  Archives,  2d 
Series,  Vol.  I  (Trenton  1901).  I  have  also  used  John  W. 
Barber  and  Henry  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  New- 
Jersey  (New  York  1847),  Thomas  F.  Gordon's  History  of 
New  Jersey  (Trenton  1834),  Richard  H.  Lee's  Memoir  of  the 
life  of  R.  H.  Lee  (Philadelphia  1825),  William  A.  Whitehead's 
East  Jersey  under  the  proprietary  governments,  26.  edition 
(Newark  1875),  and  one  or  two  other  works  to  which  credit 
is  given  in  the  footnotes,  where  corroborative  manuscript 
material  will  also  be  found  fully  indicated. 

VARNUM  LANSING  COLLINS. 


Library  of  Princeton  University, 
April  12,  1906. 


A    BRIEF    NARRATIVE 


A    BRIEF    NARRATIVE 


A  BREIF  NARRATIVE  OF  THE  Ravages  committed  by  THE  REG 
ULAR  AND  HESSIAN  SOLDIERS  at  Trenton  &  Princeton 
AND  ALSO  OF  these  BATTLES  WITH  SOME  REMARKS  AND 


I  have  Often  Read  and  heard  of  the  horror  of  war  but  was 
never  near  it  Until  I  was  in  the  Eighty  fifth  Xear  of  my  age 
and  I  was  born  the  25th  of  September  1691*  Old  Stile.  The 
regular  army  left  Brunswick  on  the  7th  of  December  1776. 
The  Remainder  of  our  men  left  Princeton  and  Marcht  to  Tren 
ton  (for  the  most  of  them  had  gone  on  before)  and  Were  followed 
by  Gen?  How  with  his  army  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day 
Within  a  Short  time  after  Passing  Stony  Brook,  our  men  delay 
ing  their  Pursuit  by  Pulling  up  Stoney  Broo&  Bridge.  But 
they  finding  the  ford  past  Over  one  of  their  light  horsemen 
was  shot  on  his  horse  from  over  the  brook,  and  the  man  who 
shot  him  being  on  rising  Ground  beyond  him,  escaped.  .  .  .  [half 
line] 

The  next  Morning,  having  crossed  the  Delaware  in  the 
night,  when  the  Regulars  came  to  the  River  our  men  saw  them 
and  fired  at  the  Regulars  Which  we  heard  at  Princetown  the 
Same  morning,  Which  Prevented  their  crossing  the  River 
(and  it  is  said)  Killed  and  Wounded  Several  of  their  men. 

Most  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Prince  Town  a  Day  or  two 
before  that  and  some  on  that  day  others  after  left  their 
Dwelling  Houses  and  went  where  they  Could  go  with  their 

1  1692  ?     The  last  figure  in  the  date  is  practically  illegible. 

3 


4  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

Familys  to  Escape  1  From  the  Regular  Army  and  left  a  Great 
Part  of  their  goods  behind  them  in  their  Houses  for  want  of 
Carriages  to  take  them  away,  Great  part  of  Which  fell  into 
the  regulars  hands,  and  They  not  only  Burnt  up  all  the  fire 
wood  that  the  Inhabitants  had  Provided  for  Winter,  but 
Stript  Shops,  out  Houses  and  Some  Dwelling  houses  of  the 
boards  that  Covered  them,  and  all  the  loose  boards  and  Tim 
ber  That  the  Joiners  and  Carpenters  had  in  Store  to  work  up, 
they  Burnt  with  all  their  Fences  and  Garden  Inclosures 
with  in  the  Town  &  After  sent  their  Carriages  and  Drew  away 
the  Farmers  Fences  adjoining  within  a  mile,  and  laid  all  in 
Common.  They  also  cut  down  Apple  trees  and  other  fruit 
bearing  trees  and  burnt  them,  And  Either  by  Accident  or 
Wilfully  burnt  a  Large  House  lately  finisht  belonging  to 
Jonathan  Seargant 2  Esqr  in  Prince  town. 

'-For  example  cf.  the  story  of  Mrs.  Jonathan  D.  Sergeant's  mid 
night  flight  from  Princeton  at  this  time  in  Miller's  Life  of  Dr.  Samuel 
Miller,  I,  147,  etc.  Dr.  Witherspoon  in  a  letter  to  his  son  (Christian 
Advocate,  II,  443)  tells  how  he  left  Princeton  on  his  sorrel  mare,  Mrs. 
Witherspoon  riding  in  the  old  family  chair  with  young  Benjamin 
Hawkins  of  North  Carolina  at  the  reins.  The  hurried  disbandment 
of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  is  described  in  the  journal  of  an  anony 
mous  undergraduate,  published  in  the  Princeton  Standard  for  May  i, 
8  &  15,  1863  and  quoted  in  part  by  Hageman  (I,  124).  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush  describes  Princeton  at  this  time  as  "a  deserted  village ;  you 
would  think, ' '  he  says,  ' '  it  had  been  desolated  with  the  plague  and  an 
earthquake,  as  well  as  with  the  calamities  of  war. ' '  (Lee's  Life  of 
R.  H.  Lee,  II,  164.) 

2  i.e.,  the  noted  lawyer  and  patriot,  Jonathan  Dickinson  Sergeant 
grandson  of  President  Dickinson,  and  son  of  Jonathan  Sergeant  of 
Princeton,  the  treasurer  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  The  house 
referred  to  stood  on  the  lot  at  the  junction  of  the  modern  Stockton 
and  Mercer  Streets,  subsequently  owned  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel 
Miller  and  now  by  the  Nassau  Club.  Mr.  Sergeant's  brilliant  but  brief 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  5 

And  at  new  New  Market l  about  two  short  miles  from 
thence  they  burnt  the  best  Gristmill  in  these  Parts,  with  a 
Quantity  of  Wheat  and  flower  in  it,  and  with  it  a  Fulling  mill 
with  a  large  Quaintity  of  Cloth  in  it.  The  fuller  told  those 
Soldiers  that  set  it  on  fire  that  he  might  be  Accountable  to 

career — he  died  in  1793  at  the  age  of  47 — is  given  in  the  various 
American  biographical  dictionaries,  in  Hageman  I.  67  (with  portrait) 
and  in  the  Princeton  Press  for  March  30,  1901.  His  portrait  by  Peale 
is  in  possession  of  his  grandson  Jonathan  D.  Sergeant  of  Philadelphia, 
who  in  1901  presented  a  modern  copy  to  Princeton  University.  On 
page  278  of  the  MS.  "Damages  done  by  the  British"  in  Middlesex 
County,  preserved  in  the  State  Library  at  Trenton,  N.  J.,  is  the  follow 
ing  claim: 

Jonathan  D.  Sergeant. 

To    i   Large  Dweling  house  New  i  large  Kitchen  •> 

>  600.  o.          o 

new  Smoak  house  &  Necessary  house J 

A  Large  Garden  with  new  seder  palings  6s  per  do. .  .  10.  o.  o 
To  75  Panel  of  Post  &  Rail  Fence  mostly  5  Rails 

almost  new 8.  2.  6 

To  ioowl  of  Flax  in  Bundles  undress'd i.  19.  2 


£620.  i.          8 

Jonathan  Baldwin  being  sworn  saith  he  verily  believes  &  by  Good 
information  that  the  above  said  building  &c.  was  burned  and  Dis- 
troyed  by  the  British  Troops  and  there  adherents  and  that  he  further 
believes  there  has  not  any  Satisfaction  been  made. 

Sworn  by  Joseph  Olden.  JONATHAN  BALDWIN. 

Benjamin  Plum  being  Sworn  Saith  he  was  present  in  Princetown 
and  saw  the  Building  of  Jonathan  D.  Sergeant  Esqr.  burning  and  that 
he  has  Sufficient  Reason  to  believe  the  British  Troops  was  the  Cause 
of  the  said  building  being  burnt. 

BENJN  PLUM. 

Sworn  before  me  Jos.  Olden  2ist  Octr    1782. 

*I  have  not  been  able  to  identify  "new  New  Market."  New 
Market  itself  is  in  Amwell  township  fully  five  miles  from  Princeton. 


O  A     BRIEF     NARRATIVE 

the  owners  of  the  Cloth  and  Intreated  them  to  let  him  take 
it  out,  Which  they  [p.  2]  refused  to  do  and  burnt  all  together. 
They  also  Burnt  the  grist  mill  and  a  Framed  dwelling  House 
that  had  Six  rooms  in  it  and  which  Belonged  to  Major  Wil 
liam  Scudder  1  and  his  fulling  mill  they  burnd.  These  are 

1  William  Scudder  (b.  April  6,  1739,  d.  Oct.  31,  1793)  had  succeed 
ed  his  father  Jacob  Scudder  as  manager  of  the  mills  in  question,  his 
older  brother  Nathaniel,  a  graduate  of  Princeton  (1751),  having  gone 
into  medicine.  Jacob  Scudder,  son  of  Benjamin,  grandson  of  Thomas 
and  great-grandson  of  Thomas,  a  descendant  of  William  Scooder  of 
Darenthe,  Kent,  whose  will  was  dated  July  27,  1607.  and  probated 
Nov.  4  of  that  year,  was  born  at  Huntington,  L.  I.,  Nov.  29,  1707,  and 
married  Aug.  5,  1731,  Abia  Rowe  of  Huntington  (b.  May  23,  1708,  d. 
May  5,  1791).  In  1749  he  sold  his  Huntington  property  and  came  to 
Princeton  with  his  wife  and  6  children  (Nathaniel  b.  May  10,  1733, 
Phoebe  b.  Aug.  2,  1734,  Lucretia  b.  Mar.  19,  1737,  William  b.  April  6, 
1739,  Lemuel  b.  Sept.  10,  1741,  Ruth  b.  Oct.  17,  1743).  On  Nov.  25, 
1749,  he  bought  for  £1400  the  farm  and  mills  of  Josiah  Davison  at 
Mapleton,  near  Princeton.  The  property,  subsequently  increased  by 
further  purchase  from  Davison's  son  John,  then  consisted  of  100  acres, 
two  grist  mills,  a  saw  mill  and  a  fulling  mill,  situated  at  the  juncture  of 
Stony  Brook  and  the  Millstone  River.  It  is  known  now  as  the  Aqueduct 
Mills.  William  Scudder  received  a  commission  as  First  Major  of  the  3d 
Middlesex  Regiment  of  militia  Aug.  9,  1776,  and  was  promoted  to  a  lieu 
tenant-colonelcy  of  the  same  regiment  on  Sept.  6,  1777.  His  mills  were 
destroyed  on  Dec.  31,  1776.  In  July,  1782,  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  committee  of  the  Princeton  Association  to  prevent  trade  and 
intercourse  with  the  enemy.  (Hageman,  I,  55-56,  156,  180;  Stryker's 
New  Jersey  -in  the  Revolution  and  Hannah  L.  Cooley,  Genealogy  of  Early 
Settlers  of  Trenton  and  Ewing  (Trenton,  1883),  249  et  seq.  The  unfor 
tunate  inaccuracy  of  the  last  named  work  necessitates  the  use  of  cor 
roborative  data  whenever  possible.  For  the  unpublished  genealogical 
data  of  this  note  I  am  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  Col.  William  Scud- 
der's  great-granddaughter,  Miss  Mary  C.  Scudder  of  Princeton. 

On  page  235  of  the  MS.  volume  of  '  'Damages  done  by  the  British" 
in  Middlesex  County  is  the  following  affidavit: 


A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE  7 

said  to  be  Burnt  by  the  Regular  army  who  took  from  the 
Neighbouring  Farmhouse  not  only  the  wood  but  also  Straw, 
Part  of  it  the  soldiers  slept  on  and  used  in  various  ways  to 
defend  them  from  the  cold  and  the  rest  they  took  and  burnt 
and  the  wheat  lost  These  are  some  of  the  ruins  made  by  fire 
in  and  near  Princetow«  contrary  to  that  Justice  which  is  due  to 

William  Scudder  of  Windsor 
Dec  31  1776 
To  i  Grist  Mill  in  good  Repair  with  2  Pr  Stones,  & 

all  the  Apparatus  for  Carrying  on  the  Business 

in  the  most  Extensive  manner 900.  o.          o 

i   Fullery  House  &  Mill,  Press,  House  and  all  the 

Aparatus  for  finishing  Cloth 200.  o.         o 

90  Bushels  Wheat  @  5/.   120  do.  Ind1}  Corn 40.          10.         o 

5  Tons  Hay — i  Load  Flax  in  Sheaf 1 1.  5. 

65  Pannels  Post  &  4  Rails  fence,  new 8.  2.          6 

18  Ditto  pal'd  Garden  Ditto,  old i.          16. 

i  Set  Waggon  Gears,  Traces  Iron 3. 

1  Suit  New  Superfine  Regimentals 9. 

2  Shirts  Froks  &  over  Halls  fring'd 3. 

115  Pannels  Post  &  3  Rail  fence  old 8.          12.         6 

A  number  of  Weaving  Utensils  80  /- 3. 


£1188.  6.          o 

Col.  William  Scudder  being  Sworn  saith  that  the  above  Inventory 
is  Just  &  true  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge  And  that  he  has  just  Reason 
to  believe  that  the  British  Troops  has  taking  &  Destroyed  all  the 
above  Articles.  And  that  he  has  not  received  any  Satisfaction  for 
any  of  the  above  Sd  Articles  contained. 

Sworn  Octr  19:  1782,  before  Nath.  Hunt.         WM.  SCUDDER. 

Benjamin  Oppie  being  Sworn  Saith  that  he  knew  the  Mills  of 
Coln  Wm  Scudder  As  Mentioned  in  this  Inventory,  And  that  he  does 
adjude  the  said  Mills  was  Worth  £1100,  to  the  best  of  his  Knowledge. 

Sworn  Oct  19  1782  by  N1  Hunt  BENJ.  OPPIE. 


8  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

all  men.  It  is  said  that  at  a  house  a  little  out  of  the  Western 
end  of  the  Town  where  were  a  number 'of  .Regulars,  for  Gen^ 
Sterling's  1  Brigade  belonged  to  the  British,  part  of  them  one 
very  cold  night  before  the  battle  stripped  both  Wheat  fields 
and  upland  Meadows  setting  fire  not  only  to  firewood  and  Car 
riages  but  to  all  sorts  of  timber  and  specially  fences,  So  that 
if  they  were  Refenced  this  spring  to  guard  their  /oder  and  feed, 

that  that  they  will  cost  them  (?)....  [half  line] and  much 

more  than  this  in  labor  and  time [one  line] 

/  am  informed  that  they  went  to  tanners  and  robbed  them 
both  of  their  Tanned,  as  well  as  their  untanned  Leader  taken 
from  their  Vats.  What  use  the  latter  may  be  to  them  I 
Know  not,  Unless  it  be  to  make  leather  Scarce  in  the  Country 
and  impoverish  the  owners.2  I  am  Also  Inform'd  That  they 
have  taken  great  Quantitys  of  Unbroken  Flax  Whether 

1  The  allusion  here  seems  to  be  to  Lieut.  Col.  Thomas  Sterling  of 
the  42d  British  regiment  (Royal  Highland  Watch).  He  was  at  this 
time  commanding  a  temporary  brigade  consisting  of  the  42d  and  7ist 
regiments.  The  author  has  I  think  wished  to  distinguish  him  from 
General  Lord  Stirling  of  the  American  army. 

3  Quartermaster  Robert  Stockton  of  Princeton  swore  to  the  loss 
of  146  hides,  5  dozen  calf  skins  and  35  cords  of  tanning  bark.  His 
claim  is  in  the  MS.  Somerset  County  volume  of  "Damages"  in  the 
State  Library  at  Trenton.  The  same  volume  contains  the  claim  of 
Capt.  James  Moore  of  Princeton  whose  chief  losses  were  275  hides 
"near  Tand,"  142^  hides  "part  tand, "  10  dozen  calf  skins  "Tand," 
5  dozen  calf  skins  '  'part  Tan4,' '  4  dozen  sheep  skins,  17  cords  of  bark, 
10  sides  of  curried  leather,  i  dozen  curried  calf  skins — valued  in  all  at 
£628.  ii.  o.  Besides  this  stock  in  trade  Captain  Moore  lost  £126 
worth  of  other  goods.  We  can  easily  imagine  with  what  grim 
energy  he  led  the  charge  on  Nassau  Hall,  at  the  close  of  the  battle 
of  January  3,  1777,  and  bursting  open  the  door  demanded  the  surren 
der  of  the  British  soldiers  still  within  the  walls. 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  g 

Rotted  or  not,  To  use  in  makeing  Fortify  cations  and  that 
from  several  they  have  taken  all  they  had.1 

On  the  same  day  the  8th  of  December  there  followed 
the  Regular  Army  a  Parcel  of  Hessians  and  took  away  four 
Horses  from  the  People  to  the  westard  of  the  town,  One  of 
them  was  said  to  be  valued  at  a  100  pound,  and  commited 
Several  other  Outrages  the  same  day  In  pulling  of  mens  hats 
from  their  heads,  Though  the  Regular  Officers  had  given 
them  Protections  as  they  went  before,  In  these  Words  or 
near  it,  Viz.  Let  no  Man  Presume  to  Injure  A;  B.  In  his 
Person  or  Property.2  Yet  these  men  had  no  Regard  to  it 
But  Directly  to  the  Contrary  Injured  the  Protected  Men 
both  in  their  Persons  and  Propertys,  by  Insulting  their  Per 
sons  and  by  Robing  them  of  their  Propertys.  Two  of  these 
men  came  to  David  Oldens3  (where  I  then  was)  Mounted  on 
Poor  horses,  and  in  an  Insolent  maner  Demanded  his  Horses: 

1  Among  the  claims  in  the  MS.  Middlesex  and  Somerset  Counties 
"Damages"  are  those  of  Jonathan  D.  Sergeant  for  a  hundredweight 
of  undressed  flax  in  bundles,  Robert  Stockton  200  bundles,  Thomas 
Olden  20  bundles,  Thomas  Stockton  a  hundredweight,  and  Col.  Wil 
liam  Scudder  a  load. 

*  A  Protection  bearing  Col.  Rail's  signature  in  Stryker  (24)  reads: 

Tis  his  Excellency  General  Howe's  Express  orders  that  no  person 

presumes  to  molist  or  injure  John  Harcourt  in  his  person  or  property. 

By  order  of  his  Excellincy 

Headquarters  RALL 

Decmbr  thl6  I77<5 

3  David  Olden  was  son  of  John  Olden  and  grandson  of  William 
Olden  the  first  settler  in  Princeton  by  that  name.  He  married  Eliza 
beth  Laurence.  He  was  doorkeeper  of  the  N.  J.  Assembly  at  Prince 
ton  in  August  1776,  and  a  member  of  the  committee  of  the  Princeton 
Association  to  prevent  trade  and  intercourse  with  the  enemy,  in  July 
1782.  His  name  does  not  occur  in  the  volumes  of  ' '  Damages. ' ' 


10  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

But  as  it  hapened  he  had  sent  them  away,  before  the  Regular 
Army  came  with  all  his  Household  goods  and  provisions 
Except  what  was  absolutely  Necessary  for  present  use,  and 
[p.  3]  many  of  his  Neighbours  In  and  about  Princetown  had 
done  the  like  and  by  that  means  Saved  a  good  part  of  their 
Property.  This  Method  was  the  very  best  (if  not  all)  the 
Safe  Protections  that  could  be  obtained  so  much  better  it  is 
for  any  Man  to  be  Protected  by  himself  or  his  friends  then  to 
trust  his  Enemys,  Yet  this  Method  did  not  allways  avail  as 
I  design  to  to  show  hereafter. 

There  went  four  of  these  Hessians  to  a  Gentleman's  House 
(who  is  called  a  Quaker)  And  after  they  had  treated  him  and 
his  Family  in  an  Insolent  Manner  a  Stout  fellow  among  them 
laid  hold  of  his  Hat  on  his  head  and  puled  it  of  And  he  (though 
but  a  Smal  man  and  between  Fifty  and  Sixty  Years  of  age) 
laid  hold  of  their  Champion  and  Struck  up  his  heels  and 
threw  him  on  the  Ground  and  clapt  his  foot  on  his  Sword  and 
Prevented  his  drawing  it,  And  took  his  Hat  again  from  him 
Upon  that  the  three  Other  Paltroons  Drew  their  Swords,  and 
he  was  oblidged  to  Yield  up  a  very  good  Hat  Though  he  had 
a  Protection  several  days  before,  which  was  of  so  little  Effect 
that  Afterwards  the  Regulars  Robed  him  of  a  fine  mare,  and 
broke  the  door  of  his  Stable  to  get  her  out,  They  also  Robed 
his  four  Store  Hogs1  being  all  he  had  before  his  face,  And  (as 

1  This  may  have  been  Joseph  Olden  whose  losses  are  listed  on 
page  256  of  the  Middlesex  County  volume  of  "Damages": 

To  i  Mare  14  hands  high  12  yr8  Old 12.  o.         o 

5  Hogs  6  monts  Old 3.  15. 

i|  of  4  Horse  Loads  Corn  tops 3. 

i  Ton  Hay  50 /.      i  pr  blind  bridle  &  lines  1 2  /  6 ....  3.  2.          6 

i  pr  Quilers  with  Chains  &  neck  yoke i.  5. 

i  Cut  Saw  &  i  handsaw 2.  7.         6 


A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE  II 

it  is  said)  Three  of  their  Generals  were  Present  Cornwallice,1 
Grant,3  &  Leshly3  looking  on  to  see  how  the  Regular  Soldiers 
ran  After  the  Hogs  about  the  Pen  to  Catch  them.  This  is 

i  Bushel  Hardsalt  3  /-     10  D°  Potatoes  15  /- 18.         o 

1 50  Rails  22/6     i  Coopers  Adze  5  /  6 i.         8. 

i  Pr  Woomans  new  Cotton  Stock' 6. 

i  New  Beaverrett  Hat i.        15. 

1  Quart1  Beef  Wg*  7sft>  @  3d 18.        n 

2  Cords  of  Sapplen  Wood i. 


£31-        i5-        ii 

1  The  Earl  of  Cornwallis  (1738-1805)  General  Howe's  subordinate. 
See  Dictionary  of  National  Biography  for  a  long  sketch  of  his  career 
as  a  soldier,  as  Governor  General  of  India  and  as  Lord  Lieutenant  of 
Ireland.     His  Princeton  headquarters  were  at  Morven,  the  Stockton 
homestead. 

2  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sir  James  Grant   (1720-1806)   of  the  S5th 
foot.     For  a  sketch  of  him  see  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 
His  portrait  is  published  by  Stryker  (p.  49). 

3  Brigadier  General  Alexander  Leslie  of  the  2d  Brigade.     He  is 
not  in  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography.     He  seems  to  have  been 
the  "general  officer"  named  in  Burke's  Peerage  as  son  of  Alexander 
Leslie  7th  earl  of  Leven  and  4th  earl  of  Melville  by  his  second  wife. 
He  was  thus  an  uncle  of  the  Hon.  William  Leslie  mortally  wounded 
at  the  battle  of  Princeton.     According  to  W.  C.  Ford,  British  officers 
serving  in  the  American  Revolution,  109,  he  was  commissioned  Lieut. 
Colonel  January  30,    1762,  Lieut.   Col.   of  the  64th,  Aug.  28,  1766, 
Colonel  Oct.  19,  1775,  Major  General  Feb.  19,  1779,  and  Colonel  of  the 
63d  foot  Jan.  2,  1782.     With  the  26.  Brigade  he  was  posted  on  January 
2,  1777,  at  Maidenhead  (Lawrenceville)  and  according  to  orders  fram 
headquarters  was  to  be  joined  the  next  morning  by  Mawhood  and  to 
proceed  to  Trenton  to  assist  in  the  capture  of  Washington.     On  the 
morning  of  the  3d,  hearing  the  heavy  firing  at  Princeton  he  hurried 
back  to  aid  Col.  Mawhood,  but  arrived  too  late.      (Unpublished  Journal 
of  Ensign  Glyn  of  the  British  army,  Library  of  Princeton  University.) 


12  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

one  Instance  among  many  to  show  the  Power  of  their  Pro 
tections  And  Wether  they  are  given  to  Protect,  Or  to  Allure 
People  to  depend  on  them  that  they  may  be  Plundered  the 
Easier  I  shal  leave  to  Others  to  Determin. 

The  Regulars  and  Hessians  together  Robed  and  Plundered 
two  wealthy  Farmers  (that  were  brothers)  of  the  Greatest 
part  of  their  moveable  Estates  About  four  or  five  miles  from 
Princetown,  and  not  only  took  away  their  Cretures  but  robed 
their  Houses  and  ript  open  their  Beds  and  turned  out  the 
feathers  and  took  away  the  Ticken  and  left  the  owners  but 
very  little  to  cover  them,  or  even  to  live  on. 

They  had  yet  some  other  ways  to  Plunder  and  Distress 
the  People  besides  these  two  that  I  have  Already  Mentioned 
of  fire  and  sword.  They  go  out  late  in  the  night  and  Steal 
and  Kill  Sheep  and  cattle  Even  Milch  Cows  and  skin  them, 
leave  their  skins  and  hides  and  take  away  the  meat.  Another 
method  is  this  their  Officers  Bargains  with  the  Inhabitants 
for  forage  and  [p.  4]  other  Necessarys  and  upon  the  Delivery 
gives  the  owners  Receipts  of  the  sorts  and  Quantitys  with 
the  Prices,1  but  pays  no  money  thus  many  Farmers -are 
served.  Others  are  ser'vd  in  a  different  manner  the  Regular 
Officers  with  their  Soldiers  Are  by  Orders  boarded  out  at  the 

1  The  official  British  list  of  prices  for  supplies  obtained  from  in 
habitants  is  given  by  Stryker  (p.  343).  Some  further  idea  of  prevail 
ing  prices  is  gained  from  the  closing  paragraph  of  the  first  letter  in  the 
anonymous  Historical  Anecdotes  Civil  and  Military  in  a  series  of  letters 
written  from  America  in  1777  &  1778  (Lond.  1779,  85  pp.,  8vo).  After 
describing  the  battle  of  Princeton  the  author  concludes  in  philosophical 
strain:  "  It  is  now  near  one  o'clock,  Feb.  10,  1777.  My  fire  is  out, 
and  wood  very  scarce.  It  has  been  £5  the  cord.  Beef  is  from  12  to 
1 8  pence  the  pound  ;  mutton  the  same  ;  veal  from  18  to  24  pence  ;  a 
couple  of  fowls  10  shillings  ;  trade  entirely  ruined,  and  my  purse  almost 
empty  :  And  so  God  save  great  George  our  King  !  " 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  13 

Farmers  Houses,  and  they  take  their  Horses  with  them  and 
take  the  Farmers  Indian  corn,  Oats,  and  the  very  best  of  his 
fodder  to  feed  them  on. 

At  a  Gentleman  Farmers  house  the  next  to  that  where  I 
now  live  There  was  with  Officers  and  all  one  hundred  and 
Seventy  of  those  Genteel  Unwelcome  Guests.  His  best 
Rooms  and  beds  in  his  House  were  taken  up  by  the  Officers 
who  was  fed  upon  the  best  Diet  that  the  House  afforded. 
In  the  mean  time  The  Soldiers  took  and  wasted  what  they 
Pleasd  of  his  stalk  tops  and  Oats  in  the  sheif  in  Makeing 
slieds  to  keep  them  from  the  Cold  when  they  Stood  on  Gaurd, 
besides  what  their  Horses  Devoured,1  And  at  their  Departure 
he  Desired  the  Officers  to  give  him  Receipts  for  what  they  had 
and  damage  done  Which  they  Refused  and  only  paid  him 
twenty  shillings  for  fifty  Pounds  Damage  as  he  Computed  it. 

Another  officer  went  to  another  Farmers  House  And 
Imperiously  Demanded  two  of  the  first  Rooms  in  his  house 
each  with  a  good  bed  in  it  for  him  to  lodge  in  and  another  to 
Receive  in  which  he  accordly  took  and  the  owner  with  his 
family  was  Oblidged  to  live  in  his  Kitchen,  While  their  horses 
were  Eating  and  Destroying  the  very  best  of  his  Provender 
and  hay  for  Which  the  owner  never  was  paid  a  farthing. 

To  give  a  Particular  Account  of  Every  Robery  and  out 
rage  comited  by  the  Hessians  and  Regulars  In  and  within 
five  miles  of  Princetown  (which  is  the  Extent  of  these  Ob 
servations  of  villanys  done)  would  fill  a  Vollum  therefore  I 
have  only  Mentioned  a  few  particulars  out  of  a  Multitude 
and  most  of  those  that  I  have  given  an  Account  of  are  Quakers 

1  The  executor  for  Joseph  Skelton  of  Princeton  affirmed  that 
' '  the  Dragoons  i  Night  fed  hay  &  Corn  till  Morning. ' '  Skelton  lost 
5  stacks  of  hay  and  500  sheaves  of  wheat,  besides  4  sheep,  24  horses, 
3  team  horses,  2  cows  and  a  wagon.  (Middlesex  "Damages,"  279.) 


14  A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE 

a  People  that  nver  bore  Arms  against  them  which  they  Knew 
well  and  therefore  had  some  right  to  their  favour  and  Yet 
used  them  in  that  manner.'  It  cannot  Reasonably  be  Ex 
pected  that  they  would  use  those  that  had  bore  Arms  against 
them  in  a  more  favourable  maner.  There  was  a  Wicked 
company  of  talebearers  that  Informed  the  Regular  Officers 
of  their  names  that  had  born  arms  against  them,  and  also 
of  their  names  that  was  chosen  Officers  by  the  People  This 
gave  them  an  Advantage  to  call  them  Rebels  and  to  say  that 
their  Estates  were  Forfeited  to  the  King  and  that  those  that 
were  missing  (as  many  of  them  was)  was  gone  to  the  Rebel 
Army.  Whereupon  Orders  were  sent  by  their  chief  Officers 
to  those  that  [p.  5]  those  Wretched  Informers  had  found  out 
had  the  Keeping  of  the  absent  Mens  goods  or  Cretures  to  De 
liver  them  up  so  that  they  lost  most  (if  not  all)  their  Cattle, 
horses,  sheep,  swine,  and  Poultry  Besides  ravageing  their 
Houses  that  had  left  For  after  they  had  had  got  what  was 
needful  to  them  they  Broke  Destroyed  and  burnt  Tables 
chairs  looking  glases  and  Picture  Frames  that  they  Could 
find,  hiding  will  not  protect  where  there  is  wicked  Informers. 
The  Damages  Done  by  these  Plunderings  and  Desolations 
must  amout  very  high  and  Occasion  much  Trouble  to  the 
Sufferers.  Yet  they  are  Vastly  short  of  Another  Horrid  Out 
rage  that  I  had  not  yet  mentioned  I  mean  the  Ravishing  of 
Women  (Which  by  a  Great  Defect  in  Human  Nature  that  is 
against  both  Justice  and  Reason)  We  Despise  these  poor 
Innocent  Sufferers  in  this  Brutal  Crime  Even  as  long  as  they 
live,  In  time  of  Peace  to  avoid  so  miserable  and  lasting  Re 
proach  I  am  of  the  Opinien  That  many  honest  virtuous  women 
have  suffered  in  this  Manner  and  kept  it  Secret  for  fear  of 
making  their  lives  misserable  and  so  many  of  those  Capital 
Crimes  escape  Punishment  In  time  of  War  When  those  Un- 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  1$ 

natural  Miscreants  are  sure  of  Geting  of  with  Impunity  they 
commit  them  the  more  frequently.  Many  of  them  has  been 
Already  mentioned  in  the  Friendly  Post. 

Taken  from  an  Extract  of  a  Letter  Wrote  by  a  Worthy 
Officer  in  the  Continental  army  Wherein  he  gives  an  Account 
of  some  Crimes  of  that  Kind  being  commited  within  five 
miles  of  Princetown  To  which  I  shall  only  ad  Another  Tretch- 
erous  Villany  There  was  two  of  Gen*  Hows1  light  Horsemen 
Quartered  at  Pensneck  about  two  miles  from  Princetown 
Who  Pretended  to  a  Young  Woman'  That  they  was  Searching 
for  Rebels,  and  had  been  Informed  that  some  of  them  were 
Secreeted  in  the  Barn  and  desired  her  to  go  with  them  and 
Show  them  the  most  Secret  Places  there,  and  She  (Knowing 
that  no  body  was  there)  to  convince  them,  Went  to  the  Barn 
with  them  to  show  them  that  no  body  was  there  And  when 
they  had  got  her  there,  one  of  them  Laid  hold  on  her  Strangled 
her  to  Prevent  her  crying  out  while  the  other  Villain  Ravisht 
her,  and  when  he  had  done,  he  Strangled  her  Again  While  the 
Other  Brute  Repeated  the  horrid  crime  Upon  her  again  She 
is  a  Farmers  Daughter  but  her  name  with  her  Fathers  must 
be  kept  Secreet  to  Avoid  the  Reproach  above  Mentioned. 
This  is  far  Worse  in  this  Respect  then  an  Indian  War  for  I 
Never  heard  nor  read  of  their  Ravishing  of  Women  Not 
withstanding  their  cruelty  to  their  captives  In  the  above 
mentioned  case  These  Death  deserveing  men  as  well  as  many 
others  that  are  guilty  of  the  like  Crimes  Escape  with  Impunity 
as  I  before  Observed.2 

1  Sir  William  Howe,  commander  in  chief  of  the  British  forces. 

2  Parallels  to  this  incident  may  be  found  in  the  letter  published 
by  the  Council  of  Safety  in  the  Pennsylvania  Evening  Post,  Dec.  28, 
1776  (N.  J.  Archives,  2  series,  I,  245)    and   in   the    affidavits   of  the 
women  abused,  collected  by  the  Congressional  committee  on  British 


l6  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

[p.  6.]  There  was  a  Farmer  that  dwels  about  a  mile  from 
Princetown  at  the  Place  where  the  Battle  was  fought,  Whose 
Mother  is  a  widow  and  lived  with  him,  and  had  half  the  Rooms 
in  the  House  for  her  own  use  But  was  Oblidged  to  leave  them, 
for  a  captain  of  the  Regulars  and  his  company  of  Soldiers 
to  come  in  that  was  Quartered  there.  And  soon  After  that 
they  had  got  in,  There  came  another  Captain  of  the  Regulars 
of  an  Overgrown  Size  and  Terrifying  Countenance  and  with 
Insolence  equal  if  not  Superior  to  the  huge  bulk  of  his  body 
Demanded  a  Room  with  a  bed  and  fire  Place  in  it  for  him  to 
lodge  in.  (The  man  of  the  House  not  being  Within)  the 
Woman1  told  him  that  they  had  none  but  that  her  husband 
and  She  lodged  in,  and  that  they  could  not  Spare,  upon  that 
he  swore  and  curst  that  he  must  and  would  have  it,  and  this 
Monstrous  Destroyer  of  human  race  before  they  are  born 
Went  on  so  Horribly  with  his, Threats  oaths  and  curses  That 
he  so  Affrighted  the  poor  Woman  that  she  fell  into  a  violent 
disorder  and  soon  after  Miscarryed.  She  was  so  poorly  the 
day  that  the  Battle  was  fought  in  the  field  and  about  that 
house  that  she  could  not  stand,  and  after  a  Shot  came  in  the 
window  where  she  lay  her  husband  and  her  nurse  were  Oblidg 
ed  to  take  her  in  her  bed,  down  cellar  to  keep  her  from  the 
Shot.  And  as  soon  as  the  Battle  was  over  they  brought  her 
up  again  in  her  bed.  And  towards  night2  When  a  part  of 
the  Regular  Army  was  come  from  Trenton  some  of  them 

and  Hessian  atrocities,  and  now  contained  in  vol.  53  of  the  MS.  Papers 
of  the  Continental  Congress,  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  pp.  29,  31, 
33,  35,  37,  39,  etc.  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  a  member  of  this  committee 
and  some  of  the  testimony  gathered  is  in  his  handwriting. 

1  i.e.,  the  farmer's  wife. 

2  The  vanguard  of  Cornwallis'  army,  Alexander  Leslie's  2d  Bri 
gade,  reached  Princeton  about  noon   (Stryker,  291). 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  IJ 

came  into  the  field  where  the  Battle  was  fought,  and  sent 
for  the  man  out  of  his  House  to  ask  him  some  Impertinent 
Questions,  and  others  of  them  in  the  Mean  time  were  Insult 
ing  of  his  sick  and  feeble  wife  and  Robed  her  of  the  Cloak 
that  she  wore  over  her  shoulders  in  bed,  She  asked  them  if 
they  Robed  Women  of  their  Cloaths  and  one  of  them  swore 
that  if  the  Dam'd  Rebel  Bitch  said  a  word  more  he  Would 
run  his  bayonet  threw  her  heart  and  they  Plundered  the 
House  of  Most  of  the  Valuable  goods,  and  then  Drew  their 
Bayonets  and  Run  them  threw  the  feather  Bed  that  the  sick 
woman  lay  on  and  swore  that  there  was  Rebels  that  was  hid 
under  it,  but  damn  them  they  wTould  fetch  them  out.  This 
they  Continued  to  do  untill  they  Spoilt  the  Bed.  And  all  the 
While  there  lay  above  Twenty  wounded  men  upon  Straw 
in  the  Next  Room,1  That  were  carried  in  by  GenJ  Washintons 
Men  Imediately  after  the  battle  most  of  them  were  Regulars 
all  Groaning  with  the  Pains  of  their  Wounds  and  some  of  them 
in  the  very  Agony  of  Death  for  two  of  them  Dyed  Either  at 
that  time  or  very  soon  after.  Thus  those  Hardened  wretches 
Went  on  without  having  the  [p.  7]  least  Compassion  Either  on 
their  Wounded  fellow  Soldiers  or  the  helpless  woman  That 
they  made  the  Object  of  their  Brutal  Sport,  whereby  they 
have  Shown  themselves  to  be  a  Pack  of  Insolent  Poltroons 
Rather  then  then  valient  English  Soldiers. 

Another  of  their  Pranks  was  this  The  same  day  that  the 
battle  was  fought,  one  of  their  Captains  in  the  morning  com 
pelled  a  man  that  lived  near  Princetown  to  go  with  him  and 
his  company  to  show  them  the  way  to  Trenton  The  Man  was 
very  loth  to  go  and  went  Slowly,  Upon  that  the  Captain  bid 
him  Step  a  long  nimbly,  for  if  he  did  not  he  swore  he  would  run 

1  This  seems  to  identify  the  house  as  William  Clark's,  cf.  p.  38. 


l8  A     BRIEF     NARRATIVE 

him  threw  with  the  drawn  Sword  that  he  had  in  his  hand, 
and  the  Sergant  swore  that  if  he  did  not  lead  them  right  he 
would  shoot  him.  They  went  on  about  a  mile  &  Genl. 
Washingtons  Army  being  Discovered  put  them  into  a  Con 
sternation  and  he  got  from  them.  This  captain  was  found 
in  the  field  of  battle  Dead,  and  carried  into  the  mans  house 
that  he  had  Insulted  in  ye  morning 

On  that  same  day  towards  night  When  that  part  of  the 
Regular  Army  that  wa.s  at  Trenton  was  Return'd,  four  or 
five  of  the  Soldiers  went  to  an  old  Blacksmiths  Shop  (about 
59  years  of  age)  and  Perceiving  that  he  had  a  good  pair  of 
new  shoes  on  his  feet,  they  took  him  Prissoner  and  conveyed 
him  about  a  mile  back  to  the  Rest  of  their  company.  There 
they  confiscated  his  shoes,  being  more  fit  for  one  of  their  own 
Men  to  wear  then  for  him  (Whether  it  was  the  sentance  of  a 
Court  Martial  or  not  I  have  not  heard)  The  Sentence  was 
Immediately  put  in  Execution,  His  Shoes  was  pulled  of  and 
one  of  their  own  men  put  them  on  his  feet  and  Compel'd  the 
poor  Old  captive  to  march  with  them  without  shoes  in  his 
stockings  all  the  way  from  Princetown  to  Brunswick  (no 
matter  whether  his  feet  froze  or  not)  There  they  kept  him  a 
Day  and  a  night,  And  no  Other  crime  Appearing  against  him 
but  only  that  of  wearing  good  new  Shoes  of  his  own  Which 
he  had  done  Severe  Pennance  for  They  Dismist  him  with  the 
loss  of  his  shoes,  and  very  sore  feet,  and  he  by  the  help  of  a 
friend  procured  another  pair  of  shoes,  and  came  limping  home 
again,  and  left  them  to  Triumph  on  that  Days  Victory  the 
noted  third  day  of  January  1777  when  they  took  two  men 
and  a  Woman  that  could  not  stand  Prisoners  one  of  the  men 
being  much  younger  then  the  other  &  haveing  shoes  on  made 
his  Escape  The  Woman  being  unable  to  march  they  left  her 
so  they  had  in  truth  none  from  Princetown  to  Crown  their 


A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE  19 

Conquest  with  but  the  poor  Old  Captive  without  shoes. 
This  is  the  Renowned  Victory  Obtained  that  day  near  Prince- 
town  Which  (it  is  said)  is  amply  set  forth  in  one  of  the  New 
York  news  papers1  to  be  a  Compleat  victory  obtained  by  the 
Regulars  over  the  Continental  Army  so  far  as  I  have  Related 
is  true  according  to  best  Information  that  I  can  get,  And  so 
far  I  agree  with  that  news  Paper  that  the  Regulars  gained  a 
Victory  over  two  men  and  one  [p.  8]  woman  But  no  further, 
And  that  they  gained  by  that  part  of  the  Army  that  came 
from  Trenton  After  the  Other  part  had  Received  a  very 
Severe  Drubing  and  total  Defeat  with  the  loss  of  all  their 
Cannon  in  the  fore  part  of  the  day.  How  far  a  news  Paper 
is  to  be  Credited  that  tells  but  part  of  the  Truth  and  leaves 
the  most  material  out  is  Easily  decided,  And  taken  by  many 
to  be  the  most  Pernicious  way  of  Lying  and  if  it  is  so  Then  how 
much  more  is  that  vast  Deviation  from  the  truth  in  saying 
that  the  Regulars  on  that  day2  Prisoners  when  in  truth 
they  took  but  three  at  or  near  Princetown,  and  they  were 
taken  in  the  Ignominous  manner  as  I  have  set  forth  and  not 

1  Hugh  Gaine's  New  York  Gazette  and  Weekly  Mercury  for  Jan. 
J3.  J777.  where  is  told  a  wonderful  tale  of  the  victory  obtained  by  the 
1 7th  Regiment,  numbering  less  than  300  men,  over  the  rebel  army  of 
between  five  and  six  thousand.     The  British  losses  are  placed  at  about 
20  killed  and  80  wounded,  the  American  at  more  than  400  killed  and 
wounded.     The  story  is  quoted  in  Stryker  (p.  471),  in  the  N.  J.  Archives, 
2  ser.  I,  253,  and  by  Paul  L.  Ford  in  his  Life  of  Hugh  Gaine,  I,  59. 
Fables    like    this    gave    plausibility,  •  as     Ford     remarks,     to     the 
Pennsylvania    Journal's    ' '  New    Catechism ' '    question    and    answer : 
"Who  is  the  greatest  liar  upon  earth?     Hugh  Gaine  of  New  York, 
printer. ' ' 

2  Marginal  note  in  MS. :  "  One  of  their  Batalions  broke  threw  some 
three  or  four  thousand  of  the  Rebels  and  took  a  great  nuraber^of 
Prisoners." 


20  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

in  the  battle.  How  many  more  they  took  on  that  day  from 
other  Places  in  the  like  Shameful  manner  I  Know  not,  but 
this  I  Know  that  they  did  not  take  one  Prisoner  that  day  in 
the  battle.  But  on  the  Contrary  all  the  Prissoners  they  had 
in  Princetown  were  set  at  liberty  by  their  total  Defeat 

Amounting  to  the  namber  of 1.     In  takeing  these  three 

Prisoners  they  violated  three  of  their  Officers  Protections  for 
the  two  men  had  Each  of  them  one,  and  the  Womans  Husband 
had  another  Besides  they  are  all  Reputed  Quakers,  and  never 
bore  arms  against  them.  I  hope  that  this  will  be  Sufficient 
Warning  to  the  New  York  Printer  of  that  News  Paper  not 
to  suffer  his  Press  to  be  again  Polluted  by  the  Regular  Of 
ficers  falsehoods  for  a  Printers  News  Press  Ought  to  be  as  an 
Oracle  for  the  Readers  to  Enquire  the  truth  by.  But  when 
in  Expectation  of  the  Truth  the  People  find  that  the  Press 
has  Degenerated  into  the  most  Glareing  Contradicting  fals- 
hoods  Then  the  Oracle  has  ceast  and  men  may  search  for 
truth  where  they  can  find  it. 

On  the  first  day  of  January  1777  from  the  door  of  our 
house  we  saw  a  skirmish  on  the  other  side  of  Stoney  brook. 
The  light  Horsmen  Rideing  backwards  and  forwards  heard 
the  fireing  of  their  guns  and  saw  the  Smoke  and  two  men 
was  found  Dead  there  That  as  it  is  supposed  were  Murdered 
in  a  barbarous  manner.  I  shall  Relate  the  matter  as  it  was 
told  to  me,  Some  of  the  Regular  Officers  boarded  at  a  house 
near  Princetown.  An  Old  Gentle  Woman  being  in  ye  Kitchin 
with  the  Adjutants  Servant,  The  Regular  Soldiers  came  in 
from  the  Gaurd  and  she  heard  one  of  them  tell  the  Servant 
That  he  could  not  do  as  Brown  Did  to  day  The  Servant  askt 
him  what  that  was,  and  he  said  there  was  a  wounded  man  that 
could  not  Stand  and  Prayed  Brown  not  to  Kill  him,  upon  that 

8  l  Blank  in  MS. 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  21 

Brown  clapt  the  Muzzle  of  his  gun  to  his  breast  and  shot  him 
Dead  the  Servant  said  it  was  murder  and  so  they  all  said  that 
was  Present  except  one  and  [p.  9]  he  said  he  would  have  done 
the  same.  This  is  verifyed  by  two  Dead  men  being  found 
near  Stoney  brook,  one  of  them  was  shot  in  his  groin  and  again 
threw  his  breast  very  probable  the  man  that  Brown  murdered. 
The  other  was  shot  in  his  hip  and  again  threw  his  head  and 
the  Palm  of  his  hand  and  the  wrist  band  of  his  shirt  on  the 
other  arm  very  much  burnt  with  Gun  Powder.  It  is  very 
Probable  that  this  man  seeing  his  murderer  point  his  gun  at 
his  head  clapt  up  both  his  hands  to  defend  it  as  it  natural  to 
us  to  defend  against  a  blow  The  bullet  entered  his  head  a 
little  above  his  eye  brow  and  dasht  out  his  brains  so  that 
some  of  them  lay  on  his  face.  This  concerning  these  men  was 
told  to  me  by  a  very  Reputable  Gentleman  who  saw  their 
Dead  bodys,  took  notice  of  their  wounds,  and  helpt  to  bury 
them. 

It  is  very  Probable  that  these  two  murders  were  Com 
mitted  either  in  obedience  too  or  at  least  were  Protected  by 
two  Cruel  Bloody  Orders  made  by  Gen^  How,  one  of  them  I 
take  from  the  America  Crisis1  page  17.  wherin  it  is  thus 
Writen.  His  Excellency  the  Commander  in  Chief  orders 
that  all  Inhabitants  Which  shall  be  found  with  Arms  not 
haveing  an  Officer  with  them  shall  be  Immediately  taken 
and  hung  up.  The  Other  Order  I  take  from  a  book  of  their 
own  that  they  left  in  the  field  when  they  fled  from  the  Battle 
near  Princetown  Which  is  thus.  Head  Quarters  Trenton 
1 2th  December  1776 

1  Thomas  Paine's  The  American  Crisis,  Number  II,  Philadelphia 
(Styner  &  Cist),  1777.  The  quotation  on  page  17  of  this  number  and 
given  above  in  the  text  is  from  a  folio  general  order  book  belonging  to 
Col.  Rail's  battalion  taken  at  Trenton. 


22  A     BRIEF     NARRATIVE 

f  Parole  BRIDGEN 
G'  °-(C:$:BURFORO 

Smal  Stragling  Partys  not  drest  like  Soldiers  and  without 
officers  not  being  admissable  in  war  Who  Presumes  to  Molest 
or  fire  upon  Soldiers  or  Peaceable  Inhabitants  of  the  Country 
will  be  Immediately  hanged  Without  Tryal  or  as  Asasings.1 

In  the  abovesaid  case  GenJ  How  Did  not  see  so  far  as  his 
bloody  Ruffians  did  that  Murdered  the  two  men,  for  they  not 
haveing  hanging  Matterials  with  them  found  that  if  they  left 
the  Wounded  men  to  go  and  get  them  the  men  might  be 
carryed  of  Secreetly  or  themselves  attackt  When  they  came 
back,  And  if  they  took  them  with  them  which  was  very 
Difficut  having  no  carriage  and  the  danger  of  an  Attack  the 
greater.  Therefore  shooting  must  of  necessity  be  done  In 
stead  of  hanging  being  much  the  safest  as  well  as  quicker  and 
Easier  done,  and  no  matter  which  way  so  that  Innocent  men 
are  but  put  to  death  as  these  two  men  was  by  Ruffians  much 
below  the  dignity  of  a  Common  hang  man  for  he  Executes  none 
but  what  has  had  a  tryal  and  and  found  Guilty  and  even  for 
doing  that  is  Detested  by  Mankind,  then  how  much  more  do 
these  Wretches  deserve  their  Abhorrence  who  by  these 
abominable  Orders  put  men  to  death  without  any  tryal  And 
the  Wretches  that  performs  [p.io]  the  bloody  Drudgery  to 
be  both  Judge  and  Executioners  such  a  horrid  task  that  no 

1  These  orders  form  part  of  the  ' '  proofs  and  illustrations ' '  pub 
lished  by  the  Congressional  Committee  as  an  appendix  to  their  report 
of  April  18,  1777.  A  copy  of  them  in  Dr.  Witherspoon's  autograph 
and  better  spelled  is  in  the  MS.  Papers  of  the  Continental  Congress 
(Vol.  53,  p.  45).  They  are  quoted  by  Stryker  (p.  484)  and  with  the 
full  report  and  other  documents  are  found  also  in  N.  J.  Archives,  2 
ser.,  I,  347-353,  362,  as  extracts  from  the  Pennsylvania  Evening  Post 
of  April  24,  26  and  May  10,  1777. 


A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE  23 

man  can  undertake  unless  he  is  Stript  of  Humanity.  The 
Objects  of  Cruelty  by  the  first  Order  were  to  be  found  with 
arms  And  it  may  be  that  Gen?  How  finding  the  Defect  in 
this  order,  that  but  few  (if  any)  would  be  found  with  Arms, 
and  so  the  Inhabitants  would  Escape  his  wrath,  made  the 
latter  to  Supply  that  defect  which  Enlarged  the  power  of 
the  former  to  that  degre,  That  I  can  compare  it  to  nothing 
better  then  to  where  we  read  that  Hell  Opened  her  mouth 
without  measure,1  for  by  the  latter  it  is  no  matter  whether 
they  have  arms  or  not  (no  mention  of  arms  is  in  it  so  as  to 
make  them  the  objects  of  Death)  If  they  do  but  molest  or 
even  Affront  a  Tory  Or  mollest  the  Soldiers  when  they  come 
to  Plunder  it  is  Enough  they  are  Immediately  to  be  taken 
and  hanged  without  any  trial  Gen?  How  Knows  very  well  by 
the  Numbers  of  Prisoners  that  he  has  taken  that  but  few  (if 
any)  of  the  Millitia  are  cloathed  like  soldiers. 

What  a  Deplorable  State  was  a  Great  part  of  New  Jersey 
in  when  by  these  bloody  cruel  Orders  the  vilest  of  men  were 
made  Judges  of  the  lives  of  the  Inhabitants  and  they  Knew 
nothing  of  it,  For  Gen?  How  all  the  while  Kept  Allureing  them 
into  the  Danger  of  their  lives  by  his  Proclamations  Protections 
and  Kind  Admonitions  to  his  Officers  in  Respect  to  the  In 
habitants  to  use  them  Kindly.  By  this  Serpentine  Method 
he  drew  the  People  into  the  most  Dangerous  Security,  while 
his  Officers  and  Soldiers  were  Spiting  his  venom  upon  them 
by  their  Insults,  Roberys,  Plunderings,  and  even  Murdering 
some  of  them.  And  their  Danger  Perhaps  would  never  have 
been  Discovered  had  it  not  been  for  the  Success  of  two  Bat 
tles  in  takeing  two  of  their  books  of  Orders. 

On  the  first  day  of  January  1777  some  Regular  Soldiers 
came  along  the  main  road  from  over  Stoney  brook  One  of 

1  Isaiah  v.  14. 


24  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

them  was  very  Strangely  Wounded  for  he  was  shot  with  an 
Iron  Gun  rammer  in  Stead  of  a  bullet,  Which  entered  under 
his  chin  and  came  out  again  at  his  nose  near  his  eyes  one  end 
of  it,  and  the  other  end  lapt  round  his  thigh  (as  it  is  said) 
Whether  he  was  a  Horsman  or  not  I  Know  not,  but  it  is  very 
likely  he  was,  and  rideing  up  to  his  Eenemy  before  he  done 
charging,  and  perceing  that  he  was  like  to  be  shot  with  the 
Rammer,  lean'd  back  on  his  horse  to  avoid  it,  and  so  received 
his  wound  in  that  manner,  as  to  the  Other  end  laping  round 
his  thigh,  one  end  being  Stopt,  and  the  other  end  being  heavy 
would  continue  its  force  until  it  met  with  something  to  stop 
it,  and  happened  to  meet  with  his  thigh  [p.  1 1]  He  Languished 
a  few  days  and  Dyed.  I  Remember  when  we  first  had  the 
news  which  was  the  same  day  it  was  said  That  the  Regulars 
said  that  the  Rebels  were  so  Damd  cowardly  that  they  shot 
their  gun  Sticks  at  them,  and  run  away.  It  is  generally 
thought  that  this  was  done  in  the  skirmish  where  the  two 
men  were  murdered  as  abovsaid. 

There  was  four  Gentlemen  Farmers  that  lost  considerably 
by  the  Regular  Army  for  they  took  from  one  of  them  two 
Wagons  three  Horses  and  a  Negro  man  that  he  gave  a  hundred 
pound  for  some  years  agoe.  From  another  of  them  they 
took  one  wagon  one  horse,  and  a  Negro  man,  from  another, 
they  took,  one  Wagon,  two  horses,  and  a  negro  man  and  from 
the  other  they  took  one  Wagon  one  horse  and  one  Negro  lad, 
Besides  their  Plundering  of  them  as  they  did  their  other 
Neighbours. 

Under  all  these  Treacherous  Dangers  and  losses  we  have 
been  and  Still  are  Defending  our  Just  Rights  and  lybertys 
against  the  Arbitary  Power  of  Great  Britain  Who  in  the  last 
war  against  France  and  Spain  Used  us  as  Brethren  and 
Requested  us  to  assist  them  in  that  war  Which  we  Read- 


A     BRIEF     NARRATIVE  25 

ially  and  Willingly  Did  to  the  Utmost  of  our  Power,  (for  which 
the  State  of  New  Jersey  is  Still  in  Debt)  and  in  Return  from 
them  we  Received  a  handsome  Gratuity,1  This  brotherly 
Kindness  seemed  to  Continue  Untill  Great  Britain  Received 
a  new  Administration  of  Government  and  they  Degenerate- 
ing  into  an  Arbitary  power  Prevail'd  with  the  King  and 
Parliment  to  Declare  that  they  had  a  Right  not  only  to  tax 
(but  to)  Bind  us,  in  all  cases  Whatsoever,  For  they  Alledge 
That  they  are  our  Parent  Kingdom,  and  we  are  Derived  from 
them  and  therefore  we  ought  to  do  even  to  them  as  an  Obedi 
ent  child  ought  to  its  Parent. 

We  being  thus  made  a  Political  child,  in  the  most  humble 
manner  only  Claimed  an  Equal  Right  with  our  other  Brethren 
To  be  taxt  by  our  selves  or  by  our  own  Representatives  Ex 
clusive  of  any  other  and  this  we  clame  as  our  Natural  Birth 
right,  And  if  I  am  not  very  much  Mistaken  the  Inhabitants 
of  Great  Britain  claim  the  same  Right.  Our  Just  claim  so 
Offended  the  King  and  his  Parliment  that  they  declare  that 
we  have  no  Right  to  the  Priviledge  that  our  other  brothers  has 
But  on  the  contrary  they  have  a  right  to  make  us  pay  to  them 
as  much  money  (and  as  often)  as  they  Pleas,  was  ever  such 
an  Unnatural  Parent  heard  of  When  a  child  desires  no  more 
then  to  be  Equal  with  his  other  brethren,  to  Declare  him 
Illegetimate  and  therefore  has  no  Right  to  their  birthright, 
is  not  this  Enough  to  Convince  any  child  that  he  is  Disown 'd 
by  his  Parent  made  a  Bastard  and  thereby  he  is  fully  dis- 
charg'd  from  his  filial  duty  by  his  Unnatural  Parent,  and  has 

1  Evidently  referring  to  the  £9166  which  seems  to  have  been 
New  Jersey's  share  of  the  appropriation  voted  by  Parliament  in  1760 
for  distribution  among  the  northern  and  middle  provinces.  (See 
Acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Province  of  New  Jersey,  edited  by 
Samuel  Allinson  (Burlington,  N.  J.,  1776),  p.  237  note.) 


26  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

a  good  right  being  thus  discharg'd  to  break  of  all  Connections 
with  his  lordly  brothers  and  set  up  for  himself  as  we  have 
done,  and  Should  be  very  well  contented  if  they  would  Permit 
us  to  Enjoy  the  like  Privilege  that  Generally  Bastards  have 
that  is  to  shift  for  themselves  and  to  be  Independent  of  all 
the  family  that  we  are  said  to  belong  too.  But  they  will  not 
alow  us  Neither  a  lawful  Childs  Right  nor  a  Bastards  Inde- 
pendance  What  Kind  of  Progeny  They  would  have  us  to  be  I 
Know  not.  For  we  are  Neither  allowed  to  be  a  Lawful  Child 
nor  a  Bastard  and  yet  must  be  Derived  from  the  same  Parent 
with  the  Lawful  [p.  12]  Children.  What  Mungrel  Relation 
they  would  have  us  to  be  I  cannot  find  out  for  I  Know  of  no 
word  or  Term  in  the  English  Language  to  distinguish  it  by 
(and  I  Know  no  Other)  Therefore  I  must  leave  it  to  them  that 
are  more  learned. 

I  have  Already  set  down  Gen^  Hows  Cruel  Orders,  and  if 
I  do  not  mention  his  Kind  ones  in  Respect  to  the  Inhabitants 
I  expect  to  be  Charged  with  Partiallity,  therefore  I  shal  set 
them  down  as  follows  viz:  The  Commander  in  Cheif  calls  on 
the  Commanding  Officers  of  Corps  to  exert  themselves  in 
Preserveing  the  greatest  Regularity  and  Strictest  discipline 
in  their  Respective  Quarters  particularly  attending  to  the 
Protection  of  the  Inhabitants  and  their  Property  in  their 
several  Districts. 

It  is  Strongly  Recommended  to  Officers  to  Preserve  good 
Orders  in  the  several  Farm  houses  to  Prevent  the  men  doing 
any  damage  to  the  Inhabitants  not  only  for  their  sakes  but 
in  Complyance  with  the  General  Order  given  out  Yesterday. 

Soldiers  are  Possitively  forbid  to  Molest  or  Stop  the  In 
habitants  who  have  Protections  given  them.  Much  less  are 
they  to  Injure  them  in  their  Propertys. 

Here  is  all  of  them  that  I  can  find  in  Respect  to  the  In- 


A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE  2J 

habitants,  in  two  of  their  books  of  General  Orders  and  it 
seems  very  likely  that  these  were  some  of  the  old  Standing 
orders  that  was  made  and  Observed  by  the  British  Army  in 
Europe  when  they  had  the  Character  of  being  the  best  Soldiers 
in  that  part  of  the  world  but  let  that  be  as  it  may  be,  Gen^ 
Flow  has  made  no  other  use  of  these  good  and  kind  orders, 
but  only  to  serve  us  as  Joab  served  Amasa1  when  he  took  him 
fast  by  his  beard  with  his  right  hand  to  Kiss  him,  while  with 
the  Other  hand  he  Smote  him  in  the  nth  Rib  and  shed  out  his 
bowels  to  the  ground,  so  here  Gen!  How  had  fast  hold  of  us 
by  the  beard  of  conquest  with  one  hand  to  kiss  us  with  his 
good  orders  while,  with  his  Cruel  bad  orders  he  gave  us  a 
Mortal  Blow  and  shed  out  our  bowels  to  ye  ground  by  their 
Insults  Roberys  &  Plunderings  These  good  orders  was  so 
little  Observed,  that  I  defy  them  to  show  one  Instance  where 
they  was  obeyed  with  in  five  mile  of  Princetown. 

[p.  13]  I  shall  Venture  to  give  a  brief  Account  of  three 
Battles  and  of  some  things  that  Preceded  them  Though  I  can 
do  it  but  very  Imperfectly  for  want  of  proper  Inteligence 
both  from  the  State  of  the  Army  and  Matters  of  fact  There 
fore  I  shall  leave  it  to  others  that  are  more  Knowing  to  Sup 
ply  my  defects 

On  the  8th  day  of  December  1776  The  Regulars  towards 
Night2  came  to  Trenton  and  were  fired  upon  by  Gen*  Wash- 

1  2  Sam.  xx.  10. 

"Towards  noon"  would  be  more  accurate.  December  8,  1776, 
was  a  Sunday,  and  the  American  army  took  the  entire  afternoon  and 
night  of  the  ;th  and  up  to  daylight  on  the  8th  to  cross  to  the  Pennsyl 
vania  side  of  the  river.  The  British  and  Hessian  advance  guard 
reached  Trenton  early  in  the  morning  of  the  8th.  When  the  rest  of  the 
Hessian  battalion  arrived  at  about  u  and  marched  down  to  the  river 
bank  they  were  welcomed  with  American  grapeshot  from  the  opposite 
bank.  Cf.  Stryker,  27,  28. 


28  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

intons  Army  that  had  but  Just  got  all  of  them  over  the  River 
Delaware.  The  firing  of  Cannon  was  heard  from  thence  to 
Princetown  Every  day  more  or  less  untill  fryday  Evening 
when  the  Guns  was  heard  untill  it  was  almost  dark  This  was 
the  i3th  day  of  December,  1776.  Here  the  Regulars  Despair 
ing  of  geting  over  the  River  Designed  to  put  an  End  to  the 
Campaign  As  appears  by  their  Books  that  was  found  among 
their  Bagage  that  they  left  in  the  field,  when  they  fled  from 
the  Battle  The  words  in  one  of  their  Books  is  thus  viz.  Head 
Quarters  at  Trenton  the  i4th  of  December  1776.  G:  O: 
The  Campaign  being  Closed  with  the  Pursuit  of  the  Enemys 
Army  near  ninty  miles  by  Leif1  General  Lord  Cornwallaces 
Corps  much  to  the  Honour  of  his  Lordship  and  to  the  Officers 
and  Soldiers  under  his  Command  The  approach  of  Winter 
puting  a  Stop  to  any  further  Progress  the  troops  will  Immedi 
ately  retire  into  Quarters  and  hold  themselves  in  readiness 
to  Assemble  on  the  shortest  notice.1  There  is  another  of  their 
books  found  in  the  field  of  battle  In  which  it  is  thus  Entered 
viz.  Brigade  After  orders  9  at  night  13th  of  December  1776 
The  Bagage  of  the  Brigade  to  be  sent  of  at  7  in  the  Morning. 
The  gaurd  ordered  for  the  Rear  Gaurd  to  Escort  the  Baggage 
to  Princetown  The  captain  to  send  in  the  morning  for  the 
Prisoners  Confined  in  the  town  gaurd  and  March  them  with 
the  Baggage. 

Head  Quarters  Trenton  14th  of  December  1776  Here  in 
this  book  is  set  down  the  same  words  as  in  the  other  book 
that  I  have  before  set  down  with  this  addition,  after  the  last 
word  notice  is  aded.  The  Comander  in  chief  calls  on  the 

1  Gens.  Howe  and  Cornwallis  left  Trenton  on  December  ijth,  the 
former  to  return  to  his  comfortable  quarters  at  New  York,  the  latter 
to  sail  for  England  to  tell  the  king  how  he  had  driven  the  rebels  out 
of  New  Jersey.  The  order  in  the  text  is  quoted  by  Stryker  (48). 


A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE  39 

Commanding  officers  of  corps  to  Exert  themselves  in  Pre 
serving  the  greatest  Regularity  and  Strictest  Discipline  in 
their  Respective  Quarters  Particularly  attending  to  the  Pro 
tection  of  the  Inhabitants  and  their  Property  in  their  Several 
Districts1  In  what  manner  these  good  orders  was  obeyed 
appears  by  the  foregoing  Relation. 

On  the  25th  of  December  1776  In  the  night  Gen?  Washing 
ton  with  a  great  deal  of  Difficulty  by  Reason  of  the  Ice  Got 
over  the  Delaware  River  from  Pensilvania  with  a  Considerable 
part  of  his  Army,  and  the  next  morning  Attackt  the  Hessian 
Troops  that  was  at  Trenton  and  gave  them  a  Total  Defeat 
and  took  between  8  and  9  hundred  prissoners  with  six  field 
peices  of  Cannon  Mortally  Wounded  their  Chief  Commander 
that  they  had  there  the  number  of  Slain  and  wounded  I  have 
not  heard,  there  was  Some  of  them  that  came  to  Princetown 
the  night  after  the  Battle  very  much  Affrighted  having  Es 
caped  upe  assanpink  brook  Threw  very  muddy  Swamps  and 
Water.2 

[p.  14]  They  had  before  sent  Party s  of  their  men  down 
this  side  of  the  River  to  Crosswecks,  Bordentown,  Burlinton, 
Blackhorse,  and  Mount  Holly,  (As  I  suppose)  to  be  Quartered 
out  dureing  the  Winter.  How'er  the  Remaing  part  of  the 

1  Both  of  these  orders  are  quoted  by  Stryker  (48) . 

2  Starting  as  soon  as  it  was  dark    on  the  evening  of  the  25th,  it 
was  after  three  in  the  morning  of  the  2  6th  before  Washington  got  his 
army  over  the  river.     He  reached  Trenton  at  about  8  A.M.     Accord 
ing  to  official  German  returns  quoted  by  Stryker  (195)  the  Hessian 
losses  were  106  (5  officers  and  17  men  killed,  6  officers  and  78  men 
wounded).     Washington  reported  to  Congress  that  he  had  taken  918 
prisoners,  and  Gen.  Howe  sent  the  same  figures  to  the  king.     Wash 
ington  also  reported  the  capture  of  six  brass  field  pieces.     The  Hessian 
commander,  Colonel  Johann  Gottlieb  Rail,  died  at  Trenton  on  the  27th 
in  the  house  of  Stacy  Potts,  his  own  headquarters. 


30  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

Army  and  some  part  of  Pensilvania  Millitia  found  means  at 
Several  places  to  get  over  the  River  that  then  was  full  of  Ice 
and  all  those  parts  was  Soon  cleared  of  those  devouring 
Guests  but  in  what  manner  I  can  give  no  Accounts  for  want 
of  Particular  Information. 

A  few  days  before  the  Battle  at  Princetown  a  Commisary 
with  nine  men  for  his  Gaurd  was  Provideing  Indian  Corn  for 
their  Horses  at  a  farmers  house  on  the  south  side  of  Stoney 
brook.  The  Commisary  and  the  Farmer  were  together  in 
the  Barn  measureing  the  Corn  When  five  of  Gen!  Washin- 
tons  light  horse  men  came  up  and  took  the  Commisary 
Prissoner  and  then  went  to  the  Farmers  House  and  took 
Eight  of  his  Gaurd  by  Rideing  up  to  the  door  and  Ordering 
them  to  ground  their  arms  and  come  out,  which  they  all  did 
Except  one  and  he  Escaped  at  a  back  door  (It  is  said)  that 
these  Soldiers  in  Stead  of  being  on  guard  to  Defend  the  Com 
misary  and  themselves  were  imployed  in  a  much  Pleasanter 
business,  that  was,  in  attacking  and  Conquering  a  Parcel  of 
Mince  Pyes1  yet  many  of  them  (if  not  some  of  these)  do  fre 
quently  say  (and  Often  Swear  to  it)  In  their  way  of  Insult 
ing  the  People  That  they  would  hang  any  Rebel  let  him  be 
who  he  would  for  a  mug  of  sider. 

A  farmer  about  five  miles  from  Princetown  took  two 
Armed  Hessians  ^rissoners  with  no  other  Arms  then  his 
Pitchfork  and  Dog  In  the  following  manner.  They  were  dis 
covered  in  his  Stable  among  his  horses  by  his  boy  who  told  his 
master  and  he  ran  to  the  Stable  before  it  was  light  in  the 
morning  and  got  his  Pitch  fork  and  commanded  them  to 
yield  themselves  Prisoners  which  one  of  them  obeyed,  and 
while  he  was  Secureing  of  him,  the  other  ran  away,  and  the 

footnote  in  MS.:  "This  shows  That  they  fared  well  among 
the  farmer?,. ' '  The  story  of  the  capture  is  given  in  Stryker  (250). 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  31 

farmer  set  his  dog  after  him,  and  he  Catcht  him  by  his  coat 
and  held  him  fast  until  he  was  Secured,  and  both  of  them 
sent  away  Prissoners  They  said  that  they  had  fled  from  the 
Battle  at  Trenton. 

The  Regulars  Advanced  gaurds  were  frequently  fired 
uppon  about  the  first  of  January  in  the  night ;  which  Alarmed 
them  to  that  degre  that  they  Increast  their  Gaurd  upon  Alen- 
town  Road  with  one  hundred  men,  and  lay  on  their  Arms 
three  nights  Successively  before  the  Battle,  on  the  first  day 
of  January  at  night  they  made  many  fires  on  the  side  of  the 
Main  Road  that  Extended  from  the  turning  at  Clarks  corner 
down  to  the  bridge,  or  near  it  and  so  up  on  the  other  side  on 
the  riseing  ground  as  far  as  we  could  see  it  and  how  much 
farther  I  Know  not.  The  next  morning  early  the  Second  of 
the  month  they  left  their  fires  and  marched  towards  Trenton 
and  some  where  in  their  [p.  15]  way  threw  Maidenhead  came 
upon  a  Parcel  of  GenJ  Washintons  men  who  iought  them  on  a 
Retreat  and  more  men  being  sent  to  cover  their  Retreat  until 
they  got  to  Trenton  and  had  past  over  the  bridge  when  the 
Regulars  and  Hessians  appeared  and  the  latter  being  very 
Eager  to  follow  the  Persuit  as  they  called  it  Receiv'd  a  Smart 
Rebuke  from  one  of  our  Generals  field  Pieces,  which  kild  and 
wounded  Ten  or  twelve  of  their  men  and  at  the  same  time 
Received  a  Volly  of  smal  arms  they  only  stood  another  fire 
and  then  Retreated,  what  number  of  the  Enemy  was  Kild 
and  Wounded  I  have  not  heard,  though  it  is  said  that  many 
of  them  was  kild  by  the  Retreating  Partys  geting  behind 
trees  and  fences  and  fireing  upon  them  as  they  advanced 
along  the  road.1 

1  On  January  ist  Washington  had  detached  Brig.  Gen.  de  Fer- 
moy's  brigade,  Col.  Edward  Hand's  Pennsylvania  Riflemen,  Col. 
Hausegger's  German  battalion,  Col.  Charles  Scott's  Virginia  Con- 


32  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

It  being  near  night1  Gen?  Washinton  with  his  Army  marht 
up  the  Mill  pond  and  the  South  side  of  Assanpink  brook,  and 
when  they  came  to  the  woods  he  ordered  many  large  fires  to 
be  made  on  the  sides  of  the  road,  and  marcht  on  with  his 
army  up  the  brook  to  the  bridge  Rozels  mill  and  past  over 
there  and  came  to  Stoney  Brook  near  Isaac  Clarks  about 
a  mile  and  half  below  the  bridge  on  the  main  road,  Where  they 
were  hindered  some  time  in  making  a  bridge  over  the  brook 
for  the  Army  to  pas  with  the  Artillery2  This  was  done  Unex 
pected  to  the  Regular  Army  who  to  Annoy  Washintons  men 
as  they  thought  now  and  then  all  night  from  over  the  brook3 
fired  a  Cannon  sho*  at  the  fires  that  was  left,  this  bring  us  to 
the  third  day  of  January  1777. 

When  as  soon  as  it  was  well  light  we  saw  the  Regulars* 
that  was  left  at  Princetown  Marching  towards  Trenton,  and 
in  about  half  a  hours  time  we  saw  them  comeing  back  faster 
then  they  went,  a  Party  of  them  came  into  our  Field,  and 

tinental  Regiment  and  two  guns  of  Capt.  Thomas  Forrest's  battery 
to  dispute  the  advance  of  the  British  on  their  way  to  Trenton.  The 
Americans  posted  themselves  at  Five  Mile  Run  just  outside  of  Maiden 
head  (Lawrenceville) .  So  ably  did  they  do  their  duty  that  it  took 
the  British  advance  guard  from  10  A.M.  until  4  P.M.  on  January  2  to 
make  Trenton.  The  narrative  of  the  day's  skirmishing  is  told  by 
Stryker  (258  et  seq.).  The  British  official  reports  make  no  mention  of 
losses  on  that  day.  Lowell's  Hessians  (301)  gives  the  Hessian  losses 
at  4  killed  and  n  wounded.  Stryker  (265)  makes  the  American  losses 
i  killed  and  6  wounded. 

1  Washington  started  his  march  at  about  i  A.M. 

2  Other  accounts  make  no  mention  of  any  delay  here  to  repair 
the  bridge. 

3  i.e.,  Assanpink  brook. 

4  The  iyth  and  55th  regiments  of  the  British  line.     The  4oth  had 
been  left  at  Princeton  to  guard  the  stores. 


A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE  33 

laid  down  their  Packs  there  and  formed  at  the  corner  of  our 
Garden  about  60  Yards  from  the  door  and  then  marcht  away 
Immediately  to  the  field  of  Battle  Which  was  in  William 
Clarks  wheat  field  and  Orchard  Round  about  his  house  and 
how  much  further  to  the  westard  I  Know  not  It  was  plain 
within  sight  of  our  door  at  about  400  Yards  distance  I  can 
give  no  Account  how  the  battle  was  ordered  on  Either  side 
for  want  of  Proper  Information  only  this 

Gen?  Washintons  army  was  so  hindered  in  makeing  and 
passing  the  bridge  that  the  Battle  was  begun  before  their 
field  Pieces  could  be  brought  up,  where  upon  they  Retreated 
and  Rallyed  again  with  their  Artillery  towards  the  last  of 
the  battle  seven  Regulars  was  seen  from  our  door  to  fall  at 
once  and  in  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour  from  the  begining 
of  the  battle  the  Regulars  were  put  to  flight  with  the  loss  of 
two  brass  field  Pieces  took  from  them  in  the  field.  The 
Exact  Number  of  their  men  that  was  Slain  wounded  and  took 
prisoners  [p.  16]  I  Know  not  there  was  thirty  Six  dead  men 
the  next  day  buryed  in  a  Stone  Quarry  among  whom  there 
was  15  of  Gen?  Washintons  men,  the  Other  21  were  Regulars 
besides  three  of  them  that  lay  dead  in  and  near  the  main 
Road  which  Gen?  Washinton  seeing  Ordered  them  to  be  put 
in  the  Waggons  and  carryed  to  town.  And  desired  the 
Country  People  to  bury  the  dead,  besides  these  there  was 
several  others  found  Dead  near  the  field  of  Battle  and  buryed 
in  other  places,  Which  side  they  belonged  to  I  do  not  Know, 
But  it  is  said  that  most  of  them  was  Regulars1  Gen?  Washintons 

1  The  losses  on  each  side  cannot  be  accurately  given.  Hageman 
(I,  141,  142)  following  Barber  and  Howe  (271,  272)  vaguely  says  the 
American  loss  was  not  exceeding  thirty,  twenty  of  whom  (6  officers  and 
14  privates)  he  admits  were  killed.  There  were  certainly  more  than 
10  wounded.  The  British  losses  he  places  at  200  killed  and  wounded 


34  A     BRIEF     NARRATIVE 

army  took  all  the  Regulars  in  town  Prissoners,1  and  discharged 
their  Continental  Prissoners  that  they  had  Confined  in  the 

Colledge  to  the  number  of 2  among   whom  (as  it  said) 

was  about  30  of  our  Countrypeople  that  were  Accused  Either 
of  being  Rebels  or  aiding  and  Assisting  them  They  took  their 
Stores  in  which  (it  is  said)  was  a  very  large  number  of  new 
blankets3  They  took  all  the  Enemys  Cannon  in  town  and 

and  230  prisoners.  Washington's  report  gives  his  estimated  loss  at 
8  or  9  officers  and  25  to  30  privates  killed,  the  British  loss  at  over  too 
killed,  about  300  prisoners,  making  with  the  wounded  a  total  of  about 
500.  Dr.  Jonathan  Potts,  surgeon  in  the  American  army,  writing 
from  the  field  of  battle  January  sth  says  that  the  American  killed 
were  16  and  the  British  23  (Stryker,  445).  The  author  of  the  anony 
mous  letter,  wrongly  attributed  by  Stryker  to  someone  in  the  British 
army,  gives  the  British  killed  at  about  100  and  the  American  at  about 
14  (Stryker,  470).  Gen.  Howe's  report  of  January  5  placed  his  loss 
at  17  killed  and  nearly  200  wounded  and  missing;  but  later  advices 
led  him  to  increase  his  figures  to  18  killed,  58  wounded  and  200  missing. 
This  return  omits  10  other  killed,  so  that  the  total  British  loss  would 
seem  to  be  286  (Stryker,  293,  458).  Stryker's  own  estimate  that  the 
British  loss  was  about  400  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners,  "one-fourth 
of  whom  were  left  dead  upon  the  field"  (p.  292)  seems  to  lack  confirma 
tion.  His  estimate  that  the  American  loss  was  about  40  killed  and 
wounded  is  more  conservative. 

1  The  anonymous  letter  quoted  by  Stryker  (470)  gives  the  number 
who  surrendered  in  Nassau  Hall  as  86;  others  being  brought  in  in 
creased  it  to   200.     Stryker  himself   (290)   gives  the  number  as   194 
"including  several  wounded  dragoons."     The  rest  of  the  two  British 
regiments  (the  55th  and  4oth)  about  200  in  all  had  fled  toward  New 
Brunswick,  losing  50  on  the  way.     Col.  Mawhood  with  the  remnant  of 
the  1 7th  escaped  to  Maidenhead,  joining  Gen.  Leslie  there,  and  later  was 
conducted  to  New  Brunswick  by  Joseph  Stockton,  a  well-to-do  Princeton 
loyalist.  (Ontario  Bureau  of  Archives.  2dRept.  (Toronto,  1905,)  I.  in). 

2  Blank  in  MS. 

3  Washington's   official   report  to  Congress   says  "we  took  some 
blankets,  shoes  and  a  few  other  trifling  articles. ' '     Stryker  (298)  says 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  35 

was  oblidged  to  leave  two  of  them  for  Want  of  Carriage  to 
take  them  of  one  gun  they  threw  into  a  well,  and  then  they 
Marcht  on  with  their  Prissoners  and  plunder  to  Sommerset 
Court  House  that  day,  and  left  some  of  the  prissoners,  and  of 
their  own  men  to  care  of  the  sick  and  wounded  men  on  both  sides 
Gen.^  Washinton  as  soon  as  the  battle  was  over  Ordered 
some  of  his  men  to  be  plced  near  the  6n'dge  over  Stoney  brook 
on  the  Main  Road  to  hinder  the  Regulars  passing  over  and  to 
pull  up  the  bridge  which  was  Scarcely  done1  when  the  Regu 
lars  Apeared  Which  caused  a  Second  fireing  about  three 
quarters  of  an  hour  appart  from  the  first  in  which  there  was 
no  Execution  done  that  I  heard  of.  In  a  little  time  our  men 
Retreated,  and  the  Regulars  were  Oblidged  to  Cross  the 
brook  at  the  ford  with  their  artillery  almost  middle  deep  in 
water  (the  back  water  of  the  mill  being  then  up)  and  form'd 
on  this  side  the  brook  and  towards  night"  (when  they  Knew 

the  Americans  "also  secured  two  brass  six  pounders,  a  large  amount 
of  ammunition,  a  quantity  of  military  stores,  and  some  clothing,  and 
camp  equipage,  loaded  in  wagons."  Gen.  Knox  makes  a  similar 
statement  in  a  letter  to  his  wife  (Stryker,  451);  an  anonymous  writer 
to  the  Maryland  Journal  under  date  of  January  7,  1777,  near  Prince 
ton,  and  presumed  to  be  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  says  that  a  quantity 
of  ammunition  and  several  wagons  of  baggage  fell  into  American 
hands  (Stryker,  467),  and  the  anonymous  letter  already  alluded  to 
elsewhere  states  that  "several  Baggage  Waggons,  and  some  Ammuni 
tion  &  Stores"  were  captured  at  Princeton.  These  references  and 
others  of  similar  trend  would  seem  to  indicate  that  Washington's 
official  report  on  the  booty  was  unduly  modest — if  not  inaccurate. 

1  Major  John  Kelly  of  Col.  James  Potter's  battalion  of  Northum 
berland  County,  Pa.,  Militia  was  in  command  of  this  detachment, 
and  his  reckless  bravery  in  delaying  escape  until  he  had  sawed  through 
the  last  plank  of  the  bridge  almost  led  to  his  capture  by  the  British 
reinforcements.  (Stryker,  287,  289,  and  Hageman,  I,  141). 

1  More  correctly  "towards  noon."  Stryker,  291,  470,  and 
Hageman,  I,  138. 


A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

that  the  other  Army  was  gone)  marcht  into  Princetown 
Thus  that  poor  and  almost  Wholly  Desolate  town  of  al  its 
late  Inhabitants  had  change  of  Masters  two  if  not  three  times 
on  that  day,  for  they  had  the  Regulars  in  the  Morning  The 
Continentals  at  noon  the  regulars  again  at  night  who  left 
them  to  the  Continentals  that  night  again  and  have  not  yet 
returned  to  Assume  their  Conquest.  So  Unconstant  is  the 
State  of  War  and  so  Certain  and  sure  the  mischiefs  and 
miserys  attending  it  That  it  is  a  Wonder  that  Wise  men 
should  ever  depend  on  it 

In  the  beginning  of  the  forementioned  Battle  a  Womans 
leg  was  shot  of  at  her  ancle  by  a  Cannon  ball  she  was  in  one 
of  the  houses1  near  the  bridge  on  the  main  road  in  the  hollow 
on  this  side  Stoney  brook  it  was  thought  to  [p.  17]  be  done  by 
one  of  Gen*  Washintons  field  Pieces.  The  battle  was  Plainly 
Seen  from  our  door  Before  any  Gun  was  heard  a  man  was  seen 
to  fall  and  Immediately  the  Report  and  Smoke  of  a  Gun  was 
Seen  and  heard,  And  the  guns  went  of  so  quick  and  many 
together  that  they  could  not  be  numbered,  we  Presently 
went  down  into  the  Cellar  to  keep  out  of  the  Way  of  the  Shot. 
There  was  a  Neighbour  woman  down  in  the  Cellar  with  us 
that  was  so  Affrighted  that  she  Imagined  that  the  field  was 
covered  with  Blood,  and  When  we  came  out  of  the  Cellar 
She  called  Earnestly  to  us  to  look  out  and  see  how  all  the 
field  was  quit  red  with  blood.  When  none  was  to  be  seen  at 
that  Distance.  This  I  mention  only  to  show  into  What 
Strange  mistakes  Sudden  frights  with  the  fear  of  Death  may 
put  us  into.  Almost  as  soon  as  the  firing  was  over  our  house 
was  filled  and  surrounded  with  Gen*  Washington's  Men,  and 
himself  on  horseback  at  the  door.  They  brought  in  with 

1  Still  standing. 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  37 

them  on  their  Shoulders  two  Wounded  Regulars,  one  of 
them  was  shot  in  at  his  hip  and  the  bullet  lodged  in  his  groin, 
and  the  other  was  shot  through  his  body  Just  below  his  short 
ribs  he  was  in  very  great  pain  and  bled  much  out  of  both  sides, 
and  often  desired  to  be  removed  from  one  place  to  another, 
which  was  done  Accordingly  and  he  dyed  about  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  They  was  both  Used  very  tenderly  by  the 
Rebels  (as  they  call  them)  The  other  also  bled  much  and  they 
put  a  Cloth  dipt  in  vinegar  to  the  wound  to  Stop  it  and  three 
of  them  Stay'd  with  the  wounded  men  near  an  hour  after 
the  Others  were  gone,  the  man  that  lived  was  left  at  our  house 
above  two  days  and  one  night  With  his  Wound  not  drest, 
before  the  Regulars  that  was  left  to  take  care  of  the  sick  and 
wounded  would  take  him  away,  though  they  had  notice  that 
day  after  the  battle. 

Gen*  Washington  as  he  came  from  the  field  of  Battle  saw 
their  packs  lying  in  ye  field  Where  they  had  left  them,  and  set 
a  guard  over  them  with  orders  that  no  body  should  meddle 
with  them  until  further  Orders  the  guard  stood  by  them  until 
the  Regulars  that  came  from  Trenton  had  formed  and  then 
left  them  Where  they  lay  until  near  Sun  set  and  then  When 
all  the  men  that  left  them  there  were  Either  slain  Wounded 
taken  Prissoners  or  fled  from  the  battle  the  Other  Regulasr 
and  .Hessians  from  Trenton  Begun  to  Plunder  their  fellow 
Soldiers  Packs  takeing  out  what  they  Pleased  and  leaving 
the  rest  in  the  dirt,  the  next  day  the  Plunderers  Increast 
and  continued  from  day  to  day  until  all  was  gone  but  What 
they  refused  to 'take  some  old  Blankets  they  gave  to  the 
Wounded  Man.  It  is  Observable  that  in  Plundering  they 
Keep  no  Order,  for  one  Plunderer  will  Rob  another  as  Ap 
pears  by  [p.  1 8]  an  instance  before  our  door  Some  of  the  Men 
that  left  their  Packs  to  Secure  them  the  better  threw  them 


38  A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE 

over  the  Garden  boarded  fence  into  it,  and  a  Hessian  seeing 
the  Packs  lying  in  the  garden  went  in  and  threw  them  over 
the  fence  into  the  field  Opened  one  of  them  and  took  out  some 
things  that  a  Regular  had  a  mind  too,  and  the  other  Refused 
to  give  him  and  then  the  Regular  laid  hold  on  him  and  took" 
them  from  him  by  force  and  Kickt  his  breech  when  he  had 
done,  one  or  two  more  Scuffles  of  the  like  Nature  we  saw 
but  at  a  far  greater  distance 

As  soon  as  the  battle  was  over  GenJ  Mercer  (who  had  his 
horse  shot  down  under  him,  and  then  received  several  wounds 
by  which  in  some  days  after  he  dyed)  was  carryed  into  Thomas 
Clarks  house  with  several  other  wounded  men,  And  above 
Twenty  was  carried  into  William  Clarks  house  two  of  them 
dyed  soon  after  they  was  brought  in  Sixty  was  carryed  to 
Princetown  but  how  many  of  them  were  regulars  I  know  not. 
By  an  Account  that  a  Neighbour  Gentleman  sent  to  me  there 
was  thirty  one  Regulars  found  dead  In  about  the  field  of 
tattle  and  nineteen  Provincials,  and  one  hundred  and  Seventy 
five  taken  Prissonerj  of  the  Regulars  and  Hessians.1  This 
account  of  the  Prissoners  is  confirm'd  by  what  a  Captain  of 
the  Millitia  told  me  who  was  in  the  Battle  and  marcht  with 
GenJ  Washington  to  Morristown  with  the  Addition  that  they 
were  all  Privates  Besides  Officers  and  how  many  of  them  he 
did  not  know. 

Immediately  after  the  Battle  (as  I  said  before)  GenJ 
Washingtons  Men  came  into  our  house  Though  they  were 
both  hungry  and  thirsty  some  of  them  laughing  out  right, 
others  smileing,  and  not  a  man  among  them  but  showed  Joy 
in  his  Countenance.  It  Really  Animated  my  old  blood  with 
Love  to  those  men  that  but  a  few  minutes  before  had  been 

1  See  note  p.  33 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  39 

Couragiously  looking  Death  in  the  face  in  Releiveing  a  part 
of  their  Country  from  the  Barbarous  Insults  and  Ravages 
of  a  bold  and  Dareing  Enemy.  By  the  Joy  that  I  felt  myself 
I  cannot  help  but  be  of  the  Opinion  that  the  most  Strict  of 
them  all  against  bearing  Arms  in  our  own  defence  (if  they 
have  any  love  for  their  bleeding  Country)  but  must  in  some 
degree  or  other  Rejoice  with  the  rest  of  their  Neighbours  and 
others  for  that  days  happy  Relief  that  it  Pleased  God  to  bless 
us  with 

Since  my  Writing  so  far,  I  saw  a  Gentleman  Farmer  one 
of  our  Neighbours  Who  Informs  me  that  on  the  ninth  day  of 
last  December  (the  next  day  after  the  regulars  had  got  to 
Trenton)  he  was  taken  Prissoner  in  his  own  house  by  a  Party 
of  them  and  conveyed  to  Trenton  and  kept  there,  for  some 
time  and  [p.  19]  then  marcht  him  with  other  Prissoners  through 
Princetown  to  Brunswick  and  so  on  from  Place  to  Place  till 
they  got  him  into  New  York,  he  says  that  they  was  Cruelly 
used  at  one  Place  for  they  Crouded  so  many  Prisoners  into 
one  Room  that  they  could  not  lye  down,  And  it  being  very 
cold  that  night  They  was  some  of  them  striking  fire  Which 
the  Officers  hearing,  forced  in  with  clubs  and  Knockt  three 
or  four  of  them  down,  They  allowed  one  Parcel  of  their  Prison 
ers  but  four  pound  and  a  half  of  bread,  and  a  pound  of  Pork 
for  Six  men  a  Week,  another  company  of  them  that  they 
said  were  Prissoners  of  war  fared  a  little  better  but  not  much, 
but  he  himself  fared  well  Enough  for  he  happened  to  have 
some  hard  money  and  Suplyed  himself  he  was  a  Prissoner 
with  them  a  little  above  three  months  and  made  his  Escape 
with  two  others  of  Staten  Island,  They  Plundered  him  Suf 
ficiently  at  home,  for  besides  plundering  his  house  they  took 
from  him  a  wagon  four  horses,  and  the  most  part  of  his  geers, 
with  Several  of  his  Cattle. 


4O  A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE 

There  was  one  Drake  that  the  next  day  after  the  Battle 
saw  four  regulars  standing  together  in  a  field  between  two 
and  three  mile  from  Princetown  and  went  Boldly  up  to  them 
(with  a  Stick  under  his  great  Coat  which  showed  as  if  it  was  a 
gun)  and  ordered  them  to  yield  themselves  his  Prissoners 
which  they  did,  and  did  not  try  for  to  Resist  two  of  them  had 
Guns  but  the  other  two  being  fugitives  the  day  before  had 
none,  He  haveing  the  four  secured  by  ye  Neighbours  went  out 
again  with  his  stick  as  he  did  before  and  found  another  regu 
lar  and  took  him  in  the  like  manner  It  is  said  that  Several 
more  of  their  fugitives  were  taken  Prissoners  by  the  Country 
People  in  Sommorset  County  and  other  places  where  they 
Stragled  about  in  Search  for  their  Army  and  got  lost. 

There  was  a  farmer  that  dwelt  about *  miles  from 

Princetown  that  was  said  to  be  a  Tory,  and  had  a  brother 
that  was  a  Schoolmaster  in  the  Neighbourhood  last  Spring 
and  left  his  School  and  got  the  Regular  army  where  he  said 
he  was  made  an  Officer  and  appeared  as  Such  while  he  was 
here  dureing  their  twenty  six  days  tyranny,  (and  is  Since 
taken  prissoner  by  our  People  near  Brunswick)  and  in  that 
time  it  is  thought  he  Prevailed  with  his  brother  the  farmer 
to  Join  with  the  Regulars  which  he  did,  and  not  being  at 
home,  Some  over  Zealous  Whigs  abused  his  wife  and  Plunder 
ed  his  house  to  a  great  degree  The  particulars  I  have  not 
heard  Though  I  have  many  times  been  Informed  of  it  in 
General  (as  I  here  set  it  down.)  This  woman  is  said  to  be  a 
Strong  Whig,  but  let  that  be  as  it  may,  her  Father  was  [p.  20] 
one  and  suffered  very  Severely  by  being  Plundered  by  the 
Regulars  to  that  degree  that  he  had  not  bed  cloaths  enough 
to  keep  him  warm  the  night  after  he  was  rob'd  and  so  got 
cold,  fell  sick  and  dyed. 

1  Blank  in  MS. 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  41 

If  it  is  a  Provocation  and  grief  to  us  to  be  Plundered  by  the 
Regulars  our  Profesed  enemys.  Then  how  much  more  must 
it  be  so  to  the  Sufferers  that  are  Plundered  by  their  Pretended 
Friends.  These  blind  Zealots  (a  zeal  without  Knowledge) 
that  Plundered  the  Woman  did  not  consider  that  they  were 
commiting  that  very  crime  of  Oppression  That  the  other 
Whigs  have  drawn  their  Swords  against,  and  by  that  have 
Transformed  themselves  into  Torys  and  did  not  know  it.  For 
the  word  Tory  as  it  now  is  Understood  among  us  Signifys 
Oppression  or  at  least  an  accessary  to  oppression:  and  when 
any  person  is  Oppresst  the  accessary  in  aiding  or  assisting  is 
as  guilty  as  he  that  does  it,  and  therefore  these  Plunderers 
may  properly  be  called  Torys.  What  a  Mallancholly  sight 
it  is  to  see  our  own  People  guilty  of  the  crime  that  we  are 
Opposing  with  the  hazard  of  some  of  our  lives. 

No  mans  property  ought  to  be  taken  from  him  without 
a  Law  first  made  and  then  a  hearing,  or  at  least  an  Opper- 
tunity  of  being  heard  to  know  Whether  he  is  guilty  of  a  breach 
of  that  law  or  not,  and  if  he  is  found  guilty,  and  all  or  part  of 
his  goods  are  forfeited,  they  are  to  be  token  by  the  proper 
Officer,  and  not  by  Private  men,  for  they  do  not  belong  to 
them  but  to  the  Public.  Therefore  these  whigs  that  Plundered 
the  Woman  (whoever  they  be)  if  the  farmer  deserves  to  be 
punished  They  have  been  Plundering  the  Publick,  for  if  the 
goods  that  they  Plundered  was  forfeited,  they  belonged  to 
the  People  in  General,  and  not  to  private  Individuals. 

The  Charactar  of  British  Solders  formerly  was  their  Keep 
ing  of  faith  with  and  showing  mercy  to  their  conquered 
Enemys  was  Equal  to  their  Valour,  This  brave  Character  hath 
very  much  Deceived  some  of  the  Torys  as  well  as  many  others 
for  they  Imagined  That  if  we  should  be  conquered,  that  faith 


42  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

would  be  kept  with  them  and  mercy  shown  to  them  by  the 
Conquerers.  But  when  that  unhappy  time  came  Alas  they 
found  directly  to  the  Contrary,  for  to  their  Sorrow  they  found 
the  saying  in  the  Scripture  true  where  it  says,  The  mercys 
of  the  wicked  are  Cruelty.1  This  Puts  me  upon  Enquireing 
What  is  become  of  these  Noble  Virtues  Faith  and  Mercy  for 
they  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  British  nor  Hessian  Army 
here,  Have  they  fled  from,  or  are  they  Stifiled  [p.  21]  under 
that  vast  Pile  of  Bribery  and  Corruption  under  which  the 
In/zafo'tants  of  Great  Britain  now  Groans.  It  is  Certain  that 
as  soon  as  these  Vices  got  into  the  Army  they  left  it,  for  they 
never  had  nor  never  will  have  the  least  connexion  with 
Treachery  Cruelty  or  Oppression  Then  where  must  they  be 
gone,  have  they  left  the  world.  I  Answer  no  they  have  not 
for  I  saw  them  Exercised  in  their  full  Lustre  by  the  Continental 
Army  in  the  day  of  the  Battle  near  Princetown,  When  they 
brought  into  the  House  where  I  then  was  Immediately  after 
the  Battle  two  wounded  men  of  their  Enimys  on  their  shoul 
ders  and  their  Cloaths  much  besmeared  with  their  blood. 
While  their  fellow  Soldiers  was  doing  the  like  with  their 
wounded  Enemys  and  caryed  them  in  large  numbers  into 
Other  houses  that  was  near;  not  regarding  the  Spoiling  of 
their  cloaths  Which  they  had  rather  bear  then  to  leave  their 
wounded  Enemys  that  could  not  Stand  by  wallowing  in  their 
blood  in  the  field 

How  very  different  is  this  from  that  barbarous  Cruel 
Usage  of  the  Regular  Army  when  in  the  same  Battle.  Gen? 
Mercer  having  his  horse  shot  down  under  him2  they  Insulted 

1  Prov.  xii.  10. 

2  Footnote  in  MS.:     "and  they  gathered  thick  round  him  "while 
he  defended  himself  with  his  Sword,  he  received  a  blow  behind  him 
with  the  but  end  of  a  gun  which  Stunded  him  and  as  he  lay  on  the 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  43 

him  and  repeatedly  wounded  him  so  that  in  a  few  days  after 
he  dyed.  In  the  like  manner  they  served  Lieutenant  Yeates  (a 
very  worthy  Young  Gentleman  as  it  is  said  by  them  that 
knew  him}1  who  when  he  was  so  wounded  that  he  could  not 

ground  Stunded,"  The  sentence  originally  read:  "Gen^  Mercer 
having  received  several  very  bad  wounds  and  his  horse  shot  down 
under  him  he  intreated  his  Enemys  to  give  him  Quarter  which  instead 
of  granting,  They  insulted  him,"  etc.,  as  in  text.  But  on  learning 
that  Mercer  did  not  ask  for  quarter,  but  fought  on  until  so  sorely 
wounded  that  he  was  left  for  dead,  the  honest  author  struck  out  his 
mistaken  words  and  added  the  footnote  given  above.  Hugh 
Mercer  was  born  in  Scotland  in  1720.  He  died  in  the  Thomas  Clark 
house  on  the  Princeton  battlefield  January  12,  1777,  and  was  buried 
in  Philadelphia  at  Christ  Church  January  16.  In  1840  his  remains 
were  removed  to  Laurel  Hill  cemetery,  Philadelphia.  Sketches  of 
him  appear  in  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography  and  in  Stryker, 
296,  459.  Cf.  also  W.  B.  Reed's  Oration  on.  .  .  .Hugh  Mercer,  Phila. 
1840,  and  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush's  letters  in  Lee's  Memoir  of  R.  H. 
Lee,  II,  163-165.  His  portrait  is  published  in  Hageman  I,  facing 
143,  and  also  appears  in  the  group  in  C.  W.  Peale's  portrait  of  Wash 
ington  owned  by  Princeton  University. 

1  A  brief  sketch  of  Bartholomew  Yeates  is  in  Stryker,  455.  Dr. 
Benjamin  Rush  in  Lee's  Memoir  of  R.  H.  Lee,  II,  165,  writing  Janu 
ary  i4th,  1777,  informs  Col.  Lee  of  Lieut.  Yeates'  death  on  the  loth, 
and  describes  the  brutal  treatment  he  had  received  after  begging  for 
quarter.  The  lieutenant's  affidavit  made  the  day  before  he  died  is  in 
the  Papers  of  the  Continental  Congress,  Vol.  53,  p.  47;  a  copy  was 
sent  by  Washington  to  Gen.  Howe  on  Jan.  13,  1777  (Hist.  MSS.  Com. 
Report  on  Amer.  MSS  in  the  R.  I.  of  Great  Britain,  82)  and  it  also 
forms  part  of  the  ' '  proofs  and  illustrations ' '  of  the  Congressional 
Committee's  report  on  British  and  Hessian  atrocities.  (N.  J.  Archives, 
2  ser.,  I,  363.)  The  affidavit  is  as  follows: 

PRINCETON,  Jany  9,   1777. 

Lieut'  Yates  of  Col"  Reads  Regim*  of  Virginia  forces,  being 
sworn  upon  the  Hoi)''  Evangelists,  declares  '  'That  after  he  was  wound- 


44  A      B  R  I  E  F      N  A  R  R  A  T  I  V  E 

stand  beged  for  Quarter  but  the  Barbarous  Wretches  would 
not  allow  it,  But  gave  him  new  Wounds  and  one  of  them 
continued  Insulting  of  him,  and  comeing  to  him  to  see  Whether 
he  was  dead  or  not,  was  shot  down  dead  himself  as  it  is  said 
and  fell  very  near  the  wounded  young  Officer  who  languished 
with  his  wounds  some  days  and  dyed  but  first  told  how  Cruelly 
he  had  been  used  by  the  Regular  Soldiers  and  took  his  oath 
of  it.  How  many  more  wounded  men  have  been  denyed 
quarter  and  murdered  is  not  known. 

Though  these  Regulars  boasts  that  they  are  the  best 
Soldiers  in  the  World,  Yet  Experience  hath  Suficiently 
Proved  them  to  be  no  more  then  the  Instuments  of  Cruelty 
and  Oppression  and  are  Strangly  Degenerated  from  what 
their  Predecessors  were  thirty  Years  agoe  for  they  Crost  the 
Atlantick  Ocean  &  came  here  to  do  one  of  the  oddest  mes 
suages  that  ever  was  heard  of.  That  was  Either  to  put  us 
to  the  sword,  or  make  us  submit  to  a  Thraldom,  much  worse 
then  we  impose  upon  our  Labouring  Beasts  for  without  the 
labour  and  care  of  Men  those  Beasts  could  have  no  Existence 
here  For  though  we  use  the  Strength  of  the  Horses  and  oxen 
in  bearing  and  drawing  of  Burthens  and  also  in  tiling  our 

ed  in  the  battle  of  3*  Jany  1777  near  Princeton,  a  British  Soldier  came 
up  to  him,  &  said  to  him  ' '  Oh  damn  you  are  you  there' '  and  Snap'd 
his  Muskett  at  him :  Upon  which  Mr  Yates  begged  for  quarters :  The 
Soldier  loaded  his  Muskett  deliberately,  &  Shot  him  thro'  the  breast, 
&  afterwards  Stab'd  him  in  13  places  with  his  Bayonett.  Sometime 
after  this,  either  the  Same  or  another  Soldier  came  up  to  him,  who, 
perceiving  some  Signs  of  Life  in  him,  Struck  him  with  the  Club  of  his 
Muskett." 

Attested  by  BENJ*    RUSH.  ANTHY  W.  WHITE. 

A  true  Copy  of  the  Original  in  the  hands  of  his  Excelly 

G.  JOHNSTON  A.  D.  C. 


A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE  45 

lands  for  our  own  food,  Yet  they  can  do  us  no  service  without 
our  guiding  and  attending  them  while  they  labour.  And 
they  in  return  for  their  labour  Receive  of  us  their  Provender 
which  we  labour  for  as  much  [p.  22]  if  not  more  then  they  in 
Providing  Stables  and  feeding  of  them  with  which  they  are 
contented  food  being  all  that  a  beast  desires 

Thus  it  hath  Pleased  God  in  his  Infinite  Wisdom  to  put  as  it 
were  Recipocral  dutys  bet  ween  men  and  their  Labouring  Beasts, 
But  hath  not  Put  any  such  dutys  between  The  Regular  Army 
and  us,  For  are  they  to  help  and  guide  us  in  our  labour,  No, 
are  they  to  Provide  us  food  and  feed  us,  No.  Have  they  given 
us  content  as  we  do  to  our  beasts  of  labour,  very  far  on  the 
Contrary.  Did  they  Ever  do  us  any  Maner  of  good  No. 
Then  how  can  we  be  under  any  dutys  or  Obligations  to  them, 
or  Even  to  them  that  sent  them. 

Great  Britain  Refused  to  hear  our  humle  Supplications 
unless  we  would  first  give  up  our  cause  and  Acknowledge  that 
they  had  an  Absolute  Power  over  us.  Their  Parliment  to 
Represent  us  though  they  know  but  little  if  anything  of  our 
Circumstances  and  therefore  we  Refuse  to  chuse  them,  For 
Which  they  (without  hearing)  have  declared  us  to  be  in  Re 
bellion  and  Denounced  War  against  us  and  sent  an  Army 
over  the  ocean  against  us,  and  for  fear  that  we  should  be  to 
Strong  they  have  at  a  great  expence  (which  no  doubt  but  they 
Expect  that  we  shal  pay}  hired  another  army  of  Forreigners 
and  attackt  us  with  both  Armys  at  once  in  order  to  Reduce 
us  the  sooner  into  the  most  abject  Slavery  that  they  Please 
to  Impose  upon  us.  This  is  the  Recompence  that  poor  New 
Jersey  Receives  from  Great  Britain  for  all  the  Services  that 
our  Ancestors  and  we  have  done  for  them.  If  it  is  askt  what 
them  Services  be  I  shal  give  a  brief  Account  as  folows, 

New  Jersey  was  first  settled  in  the  Year  1664  under  a 


46  A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE 

Proprietary  Government,  being  then  a  Wilderness  overun 
with  Wolves  Panthers  Bears  and  other  beasts  of  Prey  besides 
Plenty  of  Venomous  Serpents  though  the  first  Inhabitants 
sustained  great  damage  by  the  beasts  of  Prey  Destroying 
their  Young  Cattle,  colts,  sheep,  and  swine,  and  some  times  in 
Danger  of  their  lives  by  the  Poisonous  biteings  of  the  Rattle 
snakes  Yet  their  greatest  Danger  was  from  Treacherous 
Indians  That  not  Many  years  before  had  made  war  with  the 
duch  Settlers  in  the  very  next  Collony  of  New  York,  and  they 
often  Assembled  in  great  Numbers  so  that  the  Inhabitants 
to  Secure  themselves  built  smal  wooden'fortications.1 

Surrounded  with  all  those  Dimcultys  and  Terrifying 
Dangers  acompanyed  with  many  other  hardships  Our 
Couragious  Ancestors  went  on  in  Clearing  and  subduing  the 
Wilderness  And  buying  their  Land  both  [p.  23]  of  the  Pro 
prietors  and  of  the  natives.  Supporting  themselves  by  farming 
hunting  and  fishing  these  first  settlers  with  the  Other  settlers 

1  The  Royal  Charter  executed  in  favor  of  the  Duke  of  York  was 
dated  March  20,  1664.  Proprietary  government  began  three  months 
later  when  on  June  24,  1664,  he  conveyed  to  Lord  John  Berkeley  and 
Sir  George  Carteret  all  that  part  of  his  territory  which  is  now  New 
Jersey.  Seventeenth  century  descriptions  of  the  country,  such  as 
William  Edmundson's  Journal,  Mahlon  Stacy's  letters  in  Barber  & 
Howe,  the  Brief  Account  of  the  Province  of  East  New  Jersey,  Gabriel 
Thomas'  Historical  Description  of  the  Province  of  West  New  Jersey 
and  George  Scot's  Model  of  the  Government  of  the  Province  of  East 
Jersey,  do  not  give  the  impression  that  the  country  was  overrun  with 
wild  beasts.  The  Indians  too  arc  almost  uniformly  mentioned  in 
the  early  records  as  a  benefit  rather  than  an  injury,  and  through  their 
humane  treatment  by  the  proprietors,  New  Jersey  was  actually  pre 
served  from  the  collisions  with  the  Indians  which  other  colonies  suf 
fered.  (Cf.  Whitehead,  57,  58;  Gordon,  63,)  The  quarrel  with  the 
Dutch  of  New  Amsterdam  to  which  allusion  is  made  was  due  entirely 
to  the  misconduct  of  the  colonists  themselves.  (Whitehead,  28-31.) 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  47 

that  came  From  old  England  Scotland  and  north  Ireland  con 
tinued  buying  Lands  Until  they  extended  the  Boundaries  and 

confines  of  the  Collony  of  New  Jersey  without  an [half 

line]  ....  this  noble  Extention  of  Dominion  (which  cost  so  many 
of  the  lives  of  the  first  adventurers)  was  not  made  by  conquest 
but  by  an  Honest  Purchas  from  the  Natives  and  proprietors 
and  not  with  the  Blood  of  the  Conquered  People.  How  is  it 
England  maintains  title  to  our  Lands  must  be  given  to  her 
(and  not  kept  by  us)  for  our  Title  was  Neither  gained  by  in 
vasion  nor  held  by  oppression  and  nothing  Appears  to  the 
Contrary,  but  is  held  according  to  the  liberty  that  God  'gave  to 

Men  When  the   mos [half  line] as  for  instance, 

When   he    Separated    the     sons [half    line] title 

cannot  be  shown  to  Lands  in  Old  England  Scot 
land  &  Ireland  Besides  this  Extension  of  dominion  the 
population  is  Increast  in  Proportion.1  New  Jersey  as  early 
as  in  King  Williams  reign  was  Requested  to  Assist  Old  Eng- 
land  in  their  wars  against  France  which  we  complyed  with  to 
the  Utmost  of  our  Abillity,  And  in  Queen  Anne's  Reign  New 
Jersey  was  called  upon  to  help  Great  Britain  in  their  war 
against  France  Several  times  Which  was  very  readily  and 
Willingly  complyed  with  And  in  their  last  wars  with  France 
New  Jersey  was  for  Several  Years  Runing  Requested  by  the 
Crown  to  Assist  Which  we  did  Yearly  Willinly  and  Readily 

1  In  1702  the  Province  was  supposed  to  contain  20,000  inhabitants. 
In  1726  the  official  census  showed  a  population  of  29,861  whites  and 
2581  negroes;  in  1738,43,388  whites  and  3981  "negroes  &  other 
slaves";  in  1745,  56,777  whites  and  4606  "slaves";  in  1755,  75,000 
whites,  the  negroes  not  being  given;  in  1772,  67,710  whites  and  3313 
negroes,  with  no  returns  from  the  five  counties  of  Bergen,  Essex, 
Middlesex,  Monmouth  and  Somerset.  (Barber  &  Howe,  29,  N.  J. 
Archives,  i  ser.,  V.  164;  VI,  242;  VIII,  132;  X,  452.) 


48  A     BRIEF     NARRATIVE 

dureing  the  war,  for  Which  we  are  yet  in  debt  (as  I  said  once 
before)  Great  Britain  in  their  wars  against  the  the  Spaniards 
Requested  New  Jersey  to  assist  them  in  the  West  Indies  in  an 
Expedition  aganst  Carthargene  which  we  willingly  complyed 
with,  Where  we  lost  many  Brave  Men  and  Great  Britain 
again  in  their  war  with  both  France  and  Spain  together 
Requested  the  Assistance  of  New  Jersey  against  them  both, 
Which  was  as  it  always  had  been  very  Readily  and  Willingly 
Comply  with  though  part  of  it  was  in  the  West  Indies  Where 
our  Men  Assisted  in  taking  Havana.1 

1  In  1709  New  Jersey  entered  reluctantly  into  the  plan  of  the 
Crown  for  an  expedition  against  Canada  and  Newfoundland;  but  of 
the  separate  little  army  of  1500  men  to  attack  Montreal  to  be  furnished 
jointly  by  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  the  latter  State 
supplied  her  quota  of  200  men,  and  in  June  of  that  year  the  Assembly 
passed  a  bill  encouraging  volunteers,  another  raising  £3000  by  bills 
of  credit  and  a  third  enforcing  this  paper's  currency.  In  1711  when 
the  colonies  were  again  asked  to  co-operate  New  Jersey  provided  her 
quota  of  365  men  and  the  Assembly  raised  £5000  for  the  expenses  and 
pay  of  the  volunteers.  In  1740  when  a  British  fleet  had  been  dis 
patched  against  the  Spanish  West  Indies  and  aid  was  asked  of  the 
colonies  the  New  Jersey  Assembly  levied  £2000  for  victualling  and 
transporting  the  State  quota  of  troops.  In  June  1745  £2000  was 
raised  for  the  assistance  of  Shirley's  Louisburg  expedition  and  a  year 
later  when  it  became  known  that  the  conquest  of  Canada  was  to  be 
attempted  the  New  Jersey  Assembly  raised  £10,000  for  the  equipment 
of  500  men  and  offered  a  £6  bounty.  So  popular  was  this  enterprise 
that  660  men  enlisted;  5  companies  being  charged  to  this  State  and 
one  being  transferred  to  New  York's  quota.  In  November,  1746, 
£850  more  was  raised  for  victualling  the  troops  and  in  May,  1747, 
an  additional  £1000.  The  State  had  already  spent  over  £20,000  on 
equipment  and  transportation.  In  March,  1755,  £500  was  voted  for 
the  use  of  the  royal  army  on  its  march  through  the  province  and  its 
baggage  was  furthermore  transported  at  public  expense.  In  April, 
1755,  the  expedition  to  Crown  Point  being  decided  on  New  Jersey 


A      BRIEF     NARRATIVE  49 

The  Present  Rulers  of  Great  Britain  like  Men  Intoxicated 
with  Power  not  Regarding  Either  Friendship  or  Services  have 

Denyedaboutfp.  24]thre- [half  line] but  have  treated 

us  as  malefactors  that  is  to  be  punished [half  line] this 

that  August  Tri&unal  Whose  Sentences  should  act  as  laws  to  the 
world,  and  often  did  as  far  as  its  former  history  is  concerned, 
Would  it  be  to  offer  as  a  Law  to  the  rest  of  the  world  and  man 
kind,  that  men  should  be  denyed  a  hearing  and  a  trial  and 
should  be  condemned  to  death  or  to  punishment  unheard  f 

Surely  not.     Surely  future  Ages  will  not  be [half  line] 

Records  do  not  show  it  there time  of  Ship  Mony  was 

Ordered [half  line] to  be  paid [half  line] 

ve  of  it  might  appear,  and   this   only [half  line] 

surely  it  must  be  absolutely  Necessary  that  the  giving  the 
rights  of  Comon  Malefactors  to  millions  of  men  whose  lives 
and  propertys  are  both  ^Concered  should  be  conceded  and 

raised  500  men  and  issued  bills  of  credit  to  the  amount  of  £15,000  for 
their  maintenance.  In  the  following  August  £15,000  in  addition  was 
raised;  and  for  the  campaign  of  1756  £17,500.  In  October,  1757,  the 
Assembly  voted  £30,000  for  His  Majesty's  service  and  sent  1000  men 
to  the  front  besides  holding  3000  more  in  readiness  for  a  call.  The 
following  spring,  April,  1758,  1000  men  were  provided  and  £50,000 
voted  for  their  maintenance.  The  complement  of  1000  men  was  kept 
up  for  the  next  two  years  with  appropriations  of  £50,000  and  £45,000 
respectively.  In  1761  and  1764  the  quota  was  600  men  and  the  ap 
propriation  £25,000  each  year,  in  1764  666  men  and  £30,000,  and  it 
was  in  the  latter  year  that  Havana  was  captured.  These  figures  show 
that  the  cost  to  the  State  during  the  half  century  of  colonial  warfare 
amounted  to  over  £300,000  or  an  average  annual  cost  of  £6000. 
No  account  is  here  taken  of  moneys  or  troops  raised  for  State  frontier 
defence.  The  acts  are  best  found  in  Allinson's  Acts  of  New  Jersey 
Chapters  8  and  9  of  Gordon  should  also  be  consulted,  with  the  ist 
series  of  N.  J.  Archives,  Vols.  i-io. 


50  A      BRIEF      NARRATIVE 

they  be  given  a  hearing.  If  Great  Britains  Rulers  could  be 
persuaded  to  grant  this  the  American  States  no  Doubt  would 
yield  what  is  known  to  the  World  to  be  the  Cause  of  the 
present  struggle  which  the  British  have  called  T^ebelion 

It  will  brand  that  Tribunal  with  Infamy  when  it  is 
stated  that  them  bloody  Messengers  that  they  sent  to  Enslave 
us,  should  be  as  Impiously  guilty  as  they  was  here  In  Chang 
ing  three  Houses  of  Prayer  into  three  dens  of  thieves  That 
was  the  Colledge  and  the  Presbyterians  and  Quakers  Meeting 
Houses1  From  all  these  Places  as  well  as  many  others  they 

1  In  his  warmth  the  author  loses  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  first 
two  of  these  edifices  had  suffered  probably  as  much  damage  from 
the  American  soldiery  as  from  the  British  and  Hessian.  The  church 
had  been  used  by  both  armies.  Its  pews  had  been  burned  as  kindling 
wood,  and  a  fireplace  had  been  built  in  it  with  a  chimney  running  up 
through  the  roof.  In  the , Middlesex  County  "Damages"  (p.  328)  is 
the  appraisers'  sworn  statement  of  the^damages  done  by  the  enemy 
alone : 

Inventory  of  Damages  done  to  the  Meting  House  in  Princeton 
Middlesex  County  by  the  british  troops  &  their  Adherents  in  The  Year 
76  &  77  £160-4-2. 

John  McCombs  being  sworn  saith  he  was  requested  in  Conjunction 
with  Thomas  Stockton  &  Enos  Kelsey  to  Vallu  the  Damages  done  to 
the  meting  House  In  Prinston  at  Sd  one  vewing  &  making  A  Calcula 
tion  of  the  Sd  Damages  do  Adjudgd  it  to  £i 60.  "4.  2. 

Sworn  the  22th  Day  of  Octr  1782  before  me  Robert  Stockton. 

JOHN  McCoMBS. 

Nassau  Hall  too  had  sheltered  American  as  well  as  British  troops. 
The  minutes  of  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey  f  or.September, 
1776,  record  the  fact  that  Dr.  Witherspoon  was  to  move  in  Congress 
' '  that  troops  shall  not  hereafter  be  quartered  in  the  College. ' '  And 
three  months  to  a  day  after  our  unknown  author  penned  his  last  para 
graph,  Dr.  Witherspoon,  Dr.  Elihu  Spencer  and  Richard  Stockton, 
Esq.,  a  committee  from  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College,  presented 


A     BRIEF      NARRATIVE  51 

made  their  Incursions  upon  the  Inhabitants  both  here  and 
elsewhere  and  commited  all  the  Roberys  and  Villanys  before 
Mentioned 

The  People  in  &  about  Prmcetown  besides  their  Suffering 
the  Calamitys  of  war  had  a  grevious  Sicknes  Among  them, 
Which  begun  about  the  middle  of  August  1776,  with  the 
bloody  flux,  and  other  Mortal  Distempers  that  carryed  of 
many  People  until  late  in  the  fall  when  the  bloody  flux  was 
not  so  frequent  the  Pleurisy  and  Other  fevers  followed  (and 
as  far  as  I  can  hear)  is  not  Yet  abaited  Aprill  18  1777  but 
continues  and  carrys  many  people  of.  Besides  the  Smal 
Pox  hath  got  into  the  Neighbourhood  the  natural  way  and 
proved  very  mortal  both  to  the  Inhabitants  and  Soldiers 
there  was  fourteen  of  the  soldiers  that  catcht  it  and  was  put 
out  at  one  house  and  Seven  of  them  dyed  Just  one  half, 
There  was  Several  familys  and  many  Soldiers  Innoculated 
and  I  hear  of  only  one  Child  among  them  all  that  dyed. 

a  petition  to  Congress  praying  that  no  Continental  troops  be  allowed 
hereafter  to  enter  the  College  or  to  use  it  as  barracks.  The  petition 
recites  that  every  party  of  provincials  marching  through  Princeton 
takes  possession  of  the  building,  and  partly  through  wantonness  and 
partly  under  pretence  of  not  being  supplied  with  firewood  ' '  are  daily 
committing  the  greatest  ravages  upon  the  Building,  in  breaking  up  the 
floors,  and  burning  every  piece  of  wood  they  can  cut  out  of  it. ' '  (MS. 
Papers  Cont.  Cong.,  41,  Vol.  7,  p.  6.)  And  elsewhere  it  was  the  same 
story,  as  examination  of  Continental  Army  Order  Books  can  prove. 
Compare  e.g.,  the  following  passage  dated  Pompton,  July  25,  1777, 
in  an  unpublished  Order  Book  in  the  Library  of  Princeton  University : 
"  how  disagreeable  to  the  Army  is  it  that  peaceable  Inhabitants  of  our 
Country  Men  and  Fellow  Citizens  dread  our  halting  among  them,  even 
for  one  night,  and  are  glad  when  they  get  rid  of  us,  this  can  only  pro 
ceed  from  their  distress  at  the  plundering  and  wasting  distraction  of 
their  property." 


INDEX 


INDEX 


ALLENTOWN,  31. 

American  Crisis,  Paine's,  21. 

Assanpink  Brook,  29,  32. 

BALDWIN,  Jonathan,  5. 
Blackhorse,  29. 
Booty  captured,  34,  35. 
Bordentown,  29. 

Brown, ,  kills  wounded  man, 

21. 

Brunswick,  3,  18,  29 
Burlington,  29. 

CANNON  taken  at  Princeton,  19, 
33,  34;  at  Trenton,  29. 

Cattle  killed,  12,  14. 

Clarke,  Isaac,  32;  Thomas,  38; 
William,  33,  38. 

Clarke's  Corner,  31. 

College  of  New  Jersey  disbands, 
4.  See  also  Nassau  Hall. 

Commissary  captured,  30. 

Congressional  committee  on  atroc 
ities,  15,  22,  43. 

Cornwallis,  Earl  of,  n,  16,  28. 

Crosswicks,  29. 

DAVISON,  John,  6;  Josiah,  6. 
Dickinson,  Jonathan,  4. 
Drake, ,  40. 

FERMOY,  Brig.  Gen.  de,  31. 

Five  Mile  Run,  32. 

Farmers  plundered,  10,  13,  14,  24, 

40;  taken  prisoners,  39. 
Forrest,  Capt.  Thomas,  32 
Furniture  destroyed,  14. 

GAINE,  HUGH,  19. 
Grant,  Sir  James,  n. 
Grist  mill  burned,  5. 


HAND,  Col.  Edward,  31 

Harcourt,  John,  9. 

Hausegger,  Col.,  31. 

Hawkins,  Benjamin,  4. 

Hessians  steal  horses,  9,  10; 
insult  inhabitants,  10;  kill  cat 
tle,  12;  at  Trenton,  27,  29; 
taken  prisoners,  30;  plunder 
fellow-soldiers,  37. 

Howe,  Sir  William,  3,  15,  21,  22, 
23,  26,  27,  28,  34,  43. 

Hunt,  Nathaniel,  7. 

Huntington,  L.  I.,  6. 

JOHNSTON,  G.,  44. 

KELLY,  Major  John,  35. 
Kelsey,  Enos,  50. 

LAURENCE,  Elizabeth,  9. 

Leslie,  Gen.  Alexander,  n,  16,  34; 
William,  n. 

Losses,  American  (Jan.  2,  1777), 
32,  (Jan.  3,  1777),  19,  33,  34, 
38;  British  (Jan.  3,  1777),  33, 
34,  38;  British  and  Hessian, 
(Jan.  2,  1777),  31;  Hessian 
(Jan.  2,  1777),  32,  (Jan.  3, 

1777).  38- 
Loyalists,  14,  34,  40,  41. 

McCoMBS,  John,  50. 
Maidenhead,  n,  31,  34. 
Mawhood,  Col.  Charles,  n,  34. 
Mercer,  Hugh,  34,  42,  43. 
Miller,  Samuel,  4. 
Mills  at  Princeton  burned,  6. 
Moore,  Capt.  James,  8. 
Morristown,  38. 
Morven,  n. 
Mount  Holly,  29. 

55 


5  6 


NASSAU  HALL,  8,  34,  50. 

New  Jersey,  condition  of,  23;  in 
colonial  wars,  24,  25,  47,  48; 
recompensed  by  Great  Britain, 
25;  colonial  history,  46;  popu 
lation,  47;  Indians,  46. 

New  Market,  5. 

New  York,  American  prisoners  at, 
39- 

OLDEN,  David,  9;  John,  9;  Joseph, 
5,  10 ;  Thomas,  9;  William,  9. 

Oppie,  Benjamin,  7. 

Orders,  British  army,  14,  21,  22, 
26,  27,  28. 

PAINE,  Thomas,  21. 

Penn's  Neck,  15. 

Plum,  Benjamin,  5. 

Plundering  by  American  troops, 
51;  by  British  and  Hessians,  9, 
10,  12,  23,  24,  37;  by  Whigs, 
40,  41. 

Potter,  Col.  James,  35. 

Potts,  Jonathan,  34. 

Presbyterian  Church  damages,  50. 

Prices,  12. 

Princeton,  deserted,  3,4,  10;  mills 
destroyed  in,  6. 

Princeton,  Battle  of,  n,  16,  17, 
21,  31,  33,  34,  35,  36;  N.  Y. 
Gazette's  fictitious  account  of, 
19;  prisoners  taken,  18,  19,  20, 
34,  38,  40. 

Princeton  Association,  6,  9. 

Princeton  University.  See  Col 
lege  of  New  Jersey. 

Prisoners,  American,  at  Prince 
ton,  liberated,  20,  34;  at  Battle 
of  Princeton,  18,  19;  taken  to 
New  York,  39;  Hessian,  29,  30, 
38;  British,  34,  38,  40. 

Protections,  9,  10,  20,  23. 

QUAKER  Meeting  House,  50. 


Quakers  ill  treated,  10,  13,  20. 
Quartering   of  American   troops, 
50;  British  troops,  8,  12,  16,  29. 

RALL,  Col.  Johann  Gottlieb,  9,  29. 

Read,  Col.  James,  43. 

Rowe,  Abia,  6. 

Rozell's  Mill,  32. 

Rush,  Benjamin,  4,  43,  44. 

SCOTT,  Col.  Charles,  31. 
Scudder,  Col.  William,  6,  7,  9. 
Scudder  family,  6. 
Sergeant,  Jonathan,  4;  Jonathan 

Dickinson,  4,  5,  9. 
Sickness  in  Princeton,  51. 
Skelton,  Joseph,  13. 
Somerset  Court  House,  35. 
Spencer,  Dr.  Elihu,  50. 
Staten  Island,  39. 
Sterling,  Lieut.  Col.  Thomas,  8. 
Stockton,    Joseph,    34;    Richard, 

50;  Robert,  8,  9,  50;  Thomas, 

9,  5°- 
Stony  Brook,  3,  20,  21,  23,  32,  35. 

TANNERIES  robbed,  8. 
Timber  destroyed,  4,  5,  8. 
Tories  plundered  by  Americans, 

40,  41. 
Trenton,  Battle  of,  27,  29. 

WASHINGTON,  Gen.  George,  n, 
i7»  29,31,32,33,35,36,  37,38, 
43- 

White,  Gen.  Anthony  W.,  44. 

Witherspoon,  Dr.  John,  4,  16,  22, 

5°- 
Woman    wounded    in    Battle    of 

Princeton,  36. 

Women  maltreated,  14,  15,  16,  17. 
Wounded  men  killed,  20,  21,  22; 

at  Battle  of  Princeton,  17,  19, 

42. 

YATES,  Lieut.   Bartholomew,  43. 


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LD21-100m-7,'39(402fi) 


Photomount 

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Binder 

Gaylord  Bros.,  lnc. 

Makers 

Stockton  Calif 
PAT.  JAN.  21.  1908  " 


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